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The Kelowna Rockets came out on the losing end of a hard-fought BC Division battle at Prospera Place on Wednesday.
Playing in their second-to-last home game of the year, the Rockets stayed close to the Victoria Royals before giving up a pair of late goals to lose 5-3.
"I thought we played really well tonight. We played a hard game, thought we earned our opportunities, we played sound in front of our goaltender, closed out time and space, which was something we really wanted to focus on," said Rockets interim head coach Derrick Martin.
"In moments where we had a miscue or a breakdown, our goaltender was big tonight. We gave ourselves an opportunity. Are there a couple of plays we would like back? Yes, but the same probably could be said on the other side."
Photo Credit: Steve Dunsmoor/Kelowna Rockets
The Rockets opened the scoring in the second period when Hiroki Gojsic collected a rebound and buried his 19th goal of the season.
A little more than two minutes later, Levi Benson found the back of the net to double Kelowna’s lead early in the middle frame.
As the fans at Prospera Place finished cheering for Benson's goal, Victoria cut Kelowna’s lead in half before tying the game on a power play later in the frame.
Before the period could end, Victoria once again got onto the scoreboard and took a 3-2 lead into the third period.
The lead was short-lived in the third period as Jakub Stancl tied the game with a backhand goal in the opening minute of the final frame.
CZECH MATE! STANCE TIES THE GAME ON THE POWER PLAY!@TheWHL | @StLouisBlues | #STLBlues pic.twitter.com/Ajg921QW7L
— Kelowna Rockets (@Kelowna_Rockets) March 20, 2025
The Rockets and Royals stayed closed for the majority of the third period, but it was Victoria who came out on top as Reggie Newman deflected a shot past Rhett Stoesser.
Kenta Isogai went on to score on an empty net to seal the 5-3 win.
Stoesser stopped 32 of the 36 shots he faced in the net as Victoria outshot Kelowna 37-33.
The Rockets will play at home on Saturday before wrapping up the regular season on the road against the Vancouver Giants on Sunday.
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