For the second straight night, the West Kelowna Warriors and Penticton Vees headed to overtime on Wednesday night to decide the game. Early in the extra frame, defenceman Carson Kosobud scored the series deciding goal, beating Warriors goalie Johnny Derrick, who was screened on the play.
The Vees benched cleared to celebrate a goal from an unlikely hero. Despite the loss, the West Kelowna Warriors battled until the very end and pushed the Vees to the limit.
Conner Hutchison of the Vees opened the scoring on the power play with a shot from the point sneaking past Derrick. The Warriors answered within minutes after giving up the lead, as Carter Wilkie beat Penticton netminder Yaniv Perets on the blocker side.
The play started in the Warriors own zone on a great stretch pass by Nicolas Ardanaz to Deegan Mofford which caught the Vees off guard. Wilkie took advantage and streaked up the middle. However, the Vees went into the first intermission up by one after a goal by Steve Holtz with three minutes to go in the first.
It was all Warriors in the second frame. John Evans tied the game early on and Levi Stauber added another which gave the Warriors a 3-2 lead heading into the third. The final regulation period was a back and forth affair. Colton Kalezic tied the game at three at the 1:07 mark. The deadlock didn’t last long after Jake Harrison scored the fourth and final goal of the Warriors season at the 12:56 mark. Jackson Niedermayer tied the game late to force OT which gave Kosobud the chance to send the Vees to the next round.
The @PentictonVees are moving on to round two of the #BCHLPlayoffs in epic fashion!
Jackson Niedermayer tied it up with only 90 seconds left in regulation, setting the stage for Carson Kosobud to become the @ChevroletCanada OT Hero. pic.twitter.com/c0EPBOuawR
— BC Hockey League (@GoBCHL) March 5, 2020
The Vees punched their ticket and face the Vernon Vipers in the second round. Penticton will open the series at home at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
