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Two goals 10 minutes apart in the second period were all the Salmon Arm Silverbacks needed to defeat the visiting West Kelowna Warriors 2-1 and even their best-of-seven B.C. Hockey League Interior Division series at two games apiece.
Colton Thibault, with his second playoff goal, and Ross Heidt, with his third, were the Salmon Arm marksmen in the middle frame. Connor Sodergren got the Warriors to within a goal at 5:02 of the third period, but they could beat Salmon Arm goaltender Angus Redmond only once on 32 shots. The Silverbacks fired 42 shots at Warriors’ goaltender Matthew Greenfield.
The third-place Silverbacks evened the series after dropping a 4-1 decision to the second-place Warriors on Monday. Salmon Arm opened the series with a 6-5 overtime win at Royal LePage Place, while West Kelowna came back to take the second game 2-1.
The fifth game of the series is scheduled for Friday at Royal LePage (7 p.m.), with the sixth game set for Saturday in Salmon Arm. A seventh game, if necessary, would be played Sunday in West Kelowna.
The winner of the series will meet in the Interior Division best-of-seven final against either the first-place Penticton Vees or fourth-place Vernon Vipers.
The Vees lead the other division semifinal series 2-1 after winning the first two games at home and dropping a 2-1 decision to the Vipers on Tuesday at Kal Tire Place in Vernon.
Michigan Tech-bound Jagger Williams scored the winning goal at 12:03 of the third period on Tuesday, after Penticton’s Scott Conway (Providence College), had tied the score just 44 seconds into the final frame.
Following a scoreless first period, the Vipers’ Odeen Tufto (Quinnipiac University) opened the scoring at 12:37 of the second period.
The Vipers relied heavily on a solid effort by goaltender Andrew Shortridge, who was forced make 43 stops. Vernon scored their two goals on 28 shots on Anthony Brodeur in the Penticton goal.
The best-of-seven series continues on Wednesday at Kal Tire Place beginning at 7 p.m. A fifth game is scheduled for Friday at the South Okanagan Events Centre (7 p.m.).
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