The West Kelowna Warriors suffered their first loss of the calendar year on Friday night in Cranbrook against the Bucks.

Going into the game, West Kelowna was three points behind Cranbrook for second place in the Interior Conference.

Despite outshooting Cranbrook 11-5 in the first period, the game was scoreless after one.

Cranbrook came out firing in the second period and opened with scoring 2:55 into the frame when Blake Cotton found the back of the net, making it 1-0. They doubled their lead at the 15:24 mark of the period when Cameron Kungle scored on the powerplay. The Warriors only managed four shots on goal in the period.

The Warriors got on the board 7:24 into the third when Michael Salandra scored a powerplay goal to cut the lead in half. It was his 11th of the season.

Cranbrook put the game away when Donovan Frias scored his 17th goal of the season, making it 3-1.

Warriors Goaltender Cayden Hamming made 25 saves in the loss.

With the loss, the Warriors fall to 21-11-4-0, still sitting third in the conference.

The Warriors are back in action on Saturday night in the Shuswap as they take on the Salmon Arm Silverbacks (18-14-3-1), who sit fourth in the conference, six points behind the Warriors. In two meetings this season, the Warriors are 2-0, outscoring Salmon Arm 12-4. Puck drop is at the Shaw Centre in Salmon Arm is at 6 p.m.

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BCHLCity of West KelownaKelownaOkanaganWest Kelowna Warriors