Vernon’s Cosmo Wilson got his first taste of Memorial Cup defeat Friday night.
Wilson is a 19-year-old defenceman for the Moose Jaw Warriors, which claimed its first ever Western Hockey League (WHL) title after defeating the Portland Winterhawks in a four-game sweep earlier this month.
The Warriors now represent the WHL in the Memorial Cup in Saginaw, Mich. They are competing against the Drummondville Voltigeurs, who won the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, the London Knights, who won the Ontario Hockey League Championship, and the Saginaw Spirit, the hosts of the tournament.
The Warriors suffered their first loss of the Memorial Cup May 24 at the hands of the Saginaw Spirit, who staved off a Warriors comeback to win 5-4.
The Spirit jumped out to a 4-0 lead after a late first period goal by Nic Sima and second period goals by Owen Beck, Zayne Parekh and Jorian Donovan.
However, the Warriors mounted a near comeback by scoring three unanswered goals in less than two minutes — two from Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Brayden Yager and one from Denton Mateychuk — to make it a 4-3 hockey game.
Early in the third period, Vancouver Canucks prospect Josh Bloom scored to give the Spirit a 5-3 advantage. With less than three minutes to play in the game, Warriors skater Matthew Savoie found the back of the net to make it 5-4, and that’s as close as the Warriors would come.
Wilson will be back in action with the Warriors Monday, May 27, when the team takes on the London Knights.
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