Wednesday night was the final time the West Kelowna Warriors hit the ice together as their season ended at the hands of the Penticton Vees.
The Vees won 6-1, completing the four-game sweep and becoming Interior division champions.
The Warriors got off to a great start as Nick Roukounais scored his third of the postseason to give West Kelowna their first lead of the series. Charles-Alexis Legault and Brennan Nelson collected the assists.
That lead was short-lived as Jackson Nieuwendyk scored just 28 seconds later for the Vees to tie the game at one. Ethan Mann scored later in the period to give the Vees a 2-1 lead.
In a quieter second period that only featured 12 shots on goal combined, the only goal in the period came from Vees forward Casey McDonald on the powerplay.
The Vees scored three times in the third, including two empty-net goals to put the game away. One of the empty net goals was Nieuwendyk’s second of the game.
Kaedan Lane was the difference maker of the series. Penticton’s goaltender made 27 saves in game four and made 87 saves on 91 shots in the series.
With the win, the Vees advance to the BCHL finals (the Fred Page Cup) and will take on the Nanaimo Clippers.
It was the final time this year’s version of the Warriors will be playing together as 12 members of the team are committed to NCAA universities to continue their schooling and continue to play hockey in the fall.
READ MORE: Missing Gretzky rookie card returned to owner 7 years later by Kelowna RCMP
READ MORE: The Cristall brothers: Taking Kelowna hockey by storm
@cunninghamjordy
jordy.cunningham@kelownacapnews.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.