The West Â鶹¾«Ñ¡ Warriors fell 6-3 to the Brooks Bandits 6-3 on Saturday (Mar. 8) night.
Brooks struck twice in the first half of the opening frame, taking a 2-0 lead. Axel Lofgren (11) responded for West Â鶹¾«Ñ¡, cutting the lead to 2-1. However, Luke Bibby restored the Bandits two goal lead two minutes later. Not to be out done, the Warriors’ Philip Mønnich Hagen scored his first career BCHL goal, with 40 seconds left in the period making the score 3-2.
There was just one goal in the second period. Keith McInnis scored his 11th of the second to put the Bandits up 4-2.
Brooks added to their lead in the third, as Parker Lalonde (29) netted his first of two goals just 23 seconds into the period, making it 5-2. West Â鶹¾«Ñ¡ pushed back, with Jackson Kyrkostas (10) scoring to pull the Warriors within two. That was as close as they would get, as Lalonde (30) secured the 6-3 Brooks win with an empty-net goal.
Despite the loss, West Â鶹¾«Ñ¡â€™s playoff positioning remains unchanged for now, as the Okotoks Oilers lost on Saturday night. The Oilers remain just one point behind the Warriors in the battle for seventh place.
West Â鶹¾«Ñ¡ returns to action on Saturday (Mar. 15) for their second-to-last home game of the regular season when they host the Powell River Kings for Country Night.