The West Kelowna Warriors made a valiant third period comeback but ultimately fell short in a 4-3 loss to the Salmon Arm Silverbacks on Tuesday night in BCHL action at Royal LePage Place.
Down 4-1 in the third, the Warriors cut the deficit to two at 10:36 as Michael Ryan’s slot shot hit Silverback goaltender Nic Tallarico in the mask, turning him around and leaving an open goal for Braiden Epp to slide the puck into for his eighth of the campaign.
The Warriors couldn’t capitalize on a 5-on-3 power play later in the third period but at the 18:48 mark, Ryan made the ending dramatic as his right circle shot slipped through Tallarico on the glove side for his fourth goal of the season, making it a 4-3 game.
But despite firing 43 shots on goal and 15 in the third the Warriors couldn’t find the equalizer.
Warriors netminder Nik Amundrud made 29 saves while Tallarico stopped 40 shots for his third victory in a row.
Stephen Kleysen scored the other goal Warriors.
This weekend, the Warriors (13-16-0-1) will meet the Merritt Centennials in a home-and-home set.
The teams will face off Friday, 7 p.m., at LePage Place, then again Saturday at Nicola Valley Arena in Merritt.