WARRIORS WIN AND CLINCH PLAYOFF SPOT

Game Summary: Rebels at Warriors

The Warriors skated, bumped and thumped their way to a 5-1 win over the Red Deer Rebels on Tuesday night. With the win the Warriors are the second team in the Eastern Conference to clinch a playoff berth.

Photo by Stephen Simon

The home team jumped out to an early lead when Sam Fioretti scored his 18th of the season just before the halfway point of the opening frame. Just as the announcement of the final minute of play echoed in the building the Rebels Tyson Ness scored to tie the game.

The Warriors would come out firing after the intermission scoring two goals before early in the middle period. Fioretti would score his second of the night and 19th of the season, the game winner, to give his club a 2-1 lead. Just over a minute later, Quinton Howden would score his 28th of the season to give the Warriors a two-goal lead.

The Warriors would add two more in the final minutes of the game to seal the victory. James Henry scored his 14th of the season into an empty net. Travis Brown would finish the scoring with a shot from the point that found the back of the net. The rookie defenseman has scored six goals this season.

Fioretti and Howden would finish the night with three points. Henry would also record multi-point night with a goal and an assist.  Dylan McIlrath also had two assists on the night.

Another victory on home ice gives the Warriors 27 at Mosaic Place that is second most in the WHL to Portland who have 28. The Warriors have three games remaining at home as the end of the 2011-12 season conlcudes.

The Warriors will start the month of March on the road, when they travel to Prince Albert Friday to face the Raiders at the Art Hauser Centre. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. All the action can be heard live on Prairie Mobile Warriors Hockey with Country 100FM and the voice of the Warriors James Gallo. Watch all the games on WHL LIVE, http://whl.neulion.com/whl/ . Also follow us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/mjwarriors and Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/MJWARRIORS for everything Warriors.

Three Stars: 1 James Henry 2 Sam Fioretti 3 Quinton Howden and HWW Dylan McIlrath

1. M.J S. Fioretti, (18) (C. Braes, Q. Howden), 11:41          

1. R.D T. Ness, (16) (C. Robinson, M. Dumba), 19:01         

2. M.J S. Fioretti, (19) (Q. Howden, D. McIlrath), 4:23       

2. M.J Q. Howden, (29) (D. McIlrath, J. Henry), 5:37          

3. M.J J. Henry, (14) 17:48 (EN)       

3. M.J T. Brown, (6) (J. Wyton), 19:09