Top teams set for battle on Saturday as TRU visits Okanagan College

The Thompson Rivers University WolfPack heads to Kelowna for a game against the Okanagan College Coyotes on Saturday night in a game that will pit the B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League's first and second place clubs against one another for the second time this season.

TRU opened the regular season with a 7-1 victory over the Coyotes on home ice, but Okanagan has gone on to win five consecutive contests and move to the top of the BCIHL standings.

"We are looking forward to the challenge of playing Kelowna in their home rink," WolfPack head coach Lorne Cumming said. "We know they are one of the most improved teams in our league since pre-season and they will want play very well against us after the way our first two games have gone."

"We have worked very hard to prepare for our game against Kelowna and feel we are ready to play. Our players are proud guys and want to show they deserve to be at the top of our league. With Kelowna sitting in first place I know our group is looking forward to the opportunity to play Saturday night."

The Pack have been working hard in practice this week, coming off the UFV win, and Cumming and his staff of Steve Gainey and Shane Zulyniak have been ensuring the boys are prepared and staying focused after what has proven to be some impressive numbers with a 4-0 record in league play and an incredible 29 goals for and 5 goals against in just for games.

"We've continued to set internal goals for our hockey club and our players have taken on the challenge of achieving them. We want our team to play a very fast-paced, in-your-face game that our players are proud to be a part of. The hard work our players have invested into their early-season preparation for games has been rewarded with wins to this point, and we want our guys to continue to see those results."

ICE CHIPS: Four players lead the Pack’ and are tied for fourth in league scoring all with 8 points in four games: Tyler Halliday and Jassi Sangha with 3 goals and 5 assists, Zac Rasmussen with 2 goals and 6 assists, and Darcy Huisman leads all defensemen with 1 goal and 7 assists.

Tied for fifth in league scoring are three more TRU players: Casey Patterson, Lucas Daoust and David Gore with 7 points each.

All three WolfPack goaltenders, Anthony Manfredi, Riley Wall and Richie Virtanen, sit tied for second in netminders with combined goals against average of 1.30 in four games.