Kelowna Sand & Gravel Recap: Rockets pick up first win of 2024 pre-season
The Kelowna Rockets grabbed their first win of the 2024 exhibition season with a 4-3 overtime victory over the Kamloops Blazers on Saturday night at Prospera Place.
The Rockets rolled with a similar lineup to the one that played in Kamloops on Friday with Luke Schelter and Marek Rocak entering the line up in place of fifteen-year-old Nathan Cole and defenceman Lachlan Staniforth. Veterans Landon Cowper, Max Graham, Tij Iginla, Ethan Neutens, Andrew Cristall, Hiroki Gojsic, Caden Price, Carter Kowalyk and Jari Kykkanen were all scratches for the second consecutive pre-season contest.
GAME SUMMARY
Kelowna came out of the gates fast tonight as Michael Cicek found the back of the net just 6:07 into the game, notching his second in as many nights and Kelowna’s first power play goal of pre-season. The Rockets were quick to add to their lead as 16-year-old Owen Folstrom banked a shot off Kamloops goaltender Dylan Ernst to make it 2-0 in favour of the home side. That score would hold until late in the period as Layton Feist scored his second of the pre-season to make it 2-1 after one period.
Twenty-year-old Luke Schelter scored 5:54 into the second period nabbing Kelowna’s second goal with the man advantage to make it 3-1 but Blazers forward Jordan Keller scored less than three minutes later to make it 3-2.
The game would keep the 3-2 score all the way through the third period until Kamloops pulled their goalie for the extra attacker and rookie forward Tommy Lafreniere tied the game with 16 seconds left. Rockets rookie Kanjyu Gojsic potted the overtime winner 1:59 into overtime off an assist from Kalder Varga.
To view the box score from tonight’s game click here.
ADDITIONAL STATS
- Kelowna was 2/6 on the powerplay, while Kamloops was 2/5
- Kelowna outshot Kamloops 38-31
- Rookie Kanjyu Gojsic scored the game winning goal, adding to his first period assist on Michael Cicek’s opening tally
- Rockets returning netminder Jake Pilon played the entirety of the game, stopping 28 of the 31 shots he faced on the evening
UP NEXT
The Rockets will play its third pre-season game on Saturday, September 14 when they host the Vancouver Giants at Prospera Place.
Tickets for Kelowna’s game against the Giants, as well as the club’s home opener against Portland are now on sale. Two dollars from each preseason ticket sold will be donated to Cops For Kids.
Tickets for all Rockets games are only available at Select Your Tickets, they are the official provider of Rockets tickets. To view pricing and a seating map please click here.
Tickets can be purchased:
- Online at selectyourtickets.com
- By calling Select Your Tickets at 250-762-5050
- Or by visiting the Select Your Tickets box office at the Prospera Place box office. The box office is open 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and opens at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday home game days.
Kelowna Sand & Gravel are the sponsoring partner for this year’s Kelowna Rockets training camp. Kelowna Sand & Gravel is the original source for Kettle Valley Granite in Kelowna, BC. They have a range of landscape materials, including natural stone products with a wide variety in size, colour, and shapes, as well as preparation materials like sand and drainage rock. They sell natural stone and hardscape materials to both landscapers and homeowners and look forward to serving all your landscaping needs.
