Series Ignites In Game 3:

This is in todays Morning Star Newspaper:

Series ignites in Game 3

By Graeme Corbett - Vernon Morning Star

Published: March 13, 2011

WEST KELOWNA – The fans were on their feet and so were a lot of players, at least the ones in the standing-room only penalty box.

In what was easily the most physical and emotionally-charged game of the series so far, the host Westside Warriors doubled the Vernon Vipers 4-2 in Game 3, taking a 2-1 lead of their best-of-seven B.C. Hockey League Interior Conference semifinal Friday night at Royal LePage Place.

Game 4 went Saturday night at Royal LePage Place, with Game 5 returning to Wesbild Centre Monday night.

Alex Grieve fired a shorthanded goal and an empty-netter in the final minute to lead the Westside attack in front of 1,200 raucous fans. The Calgary native is second in postseason scoring with 10 goals for 15 points in 10 games.

“He has been literally a Warrior for us for three years. He wears the ‘C’ for a reason,” said head coach Darren Yopyk. “He skates hard, scored some big goals and did a good job on draws for us.”

The Warriors opened the scoring at 2:42 when Tyler Brickler beat netminder Kirby Halcrow with a shot from the top of the faceoff circle, shortly after his team killed off an early penalty to Quinn Gould.

Special teams were huge as Westside’s penalty killers held Vernon scoreless on five powerplay attempts, including a full two-minute 5-on-3 midway through the first period.

They also killed off a major to Shawn Hochhausen, who drove Kyle Murphy into the sidewall from behind, earning a blow to the head penalty from referee Grant Tyson and, barring an appeal, an automatic two-game suspension.

Murphy was reeling as he left the ice, but returned in the second period.

With the Warriors shorthanded to start the second period, Grieve deftly corralled teammate Kyle Singleton’s clearing attempt and broke in alone on Halcrow. The Warrior captain stickhandled around the Vernon netminder’s poke check before tucking the puck five-hole at 1:24.

The first of several scrums ensued in the corner after the goal, resulting in a packed penalty box, with misconducts to Grieve and the Vipers’ David Robinson and Mike Zalewsky.

The Vipers outshot the Warriors 41-23, and created plenty of opportunities, but had trouble solving netminder Kevin Boyle (39 saves).

“We can’t let him be the difference. We get our opportunities and we just need to bear down,” said Viper head coach Mark Ferner.

Said Boyle: “I like those kinds of games. I don’t like games where you get 20 shots. I like having a lot of action because it keeps me in the game and focussed.

“We had a great crowd tonight. It gives us a lot of momentum when the fans are out here cheering for you. It gets your heart pumping.”

And while the Vipers appear to have an edge at 5-on-5, a lack of powerplay production has Ferner more than a little concerned.

“We were trying to be too cute. We just need to simplify, we need to try to get pucks there, win battles and get traffic in front.”

Vernon peppered Boyle with 20 shots in the second period and were finally rewarded when Trevor Fitzgerald wheeled up the right wing and centred a pass that either went in off a Westside defender or linemate Aaron Hadley at 8:19 (the scoresheet credits Colton Sparrow for the goal).

The scorekeepers then credited d-man Adam Thompson for another Fitzgerald goal at 16:06. After taking a gorgeous heads-up pass from Sparrow, Fitzgerald ripped a shot past Boyle’s blocker on a partial breakaway to even the score 2-2.

“We’ve just got to work on getting shots with guys going to the net. He (Boyle) is going to stop things if he sees them,” said Fitzgerald, who challenged Peter MacIntosh five minutes into the second period after the Westside d-man hit him from behind. MacIntosh earned a game misconduct.

Said Fitzgerald: “Ferns really wanted us to keep cool out there. We took a couple undisciplined penalties, myself included, so they had some chances on the powerplay. That’s the stuff we can’t be doing.”

With the Warriors down to nine forwards and the Vipers steadily gaining momentum, Gould pocketed the winner on a powerplay with three minutes to play.

With Vernon’s Marcus Basara serving a tripping penalty, Gould was first to a puck that got knocked down in the slot, and he slid it under a diving Halcrow (20 saves) with three minutes to play.

“We were really short-staffed tonight. I give our guys a lot of credit for battling through that and for getting a late goal when we needed it,” said Yopyk.