Vipers Edge Warriors In Series Opener:

This is posted on the Vipers website:

Vipers edge Warriors in series opener

by Don Klepp | Added 2011-03-08

Coming from their series win over Trail, the Westside Warriors perhaps could have been expected to dominate the Vernon Vipers early in game 1 of the second round of the BCHL playoffs. However, the Vipers displayed early dominance and then hung on for a 3-2 win in Vernon.

Fresh from his shutout over Trail on Saturday, Kevin Boyle was sharp in the Westside net in the first period, to prevent an early blowout. The Vipers created nine scoring chances in the opening 20 minutes, four during a Viper power play.

Boyle made several scrambling saves during intense action around his net. He also was fortunate to have two shots glance off his defenders while he was down and out.

The Viper line of Dylan Walchuk, Patrick McGillis, and Dane Muench gave the Warrior defence fits in the first period. Muench was especially adept at creating scoring chances and finding open areas for his own shots. One of his shots, a backhander, seemed destined to find the open side, but a Westside defender with his back to the play accidentally deflected it out of harm’s way.

The Viper pressure paid off with two second period goals. Marcus Basara scored two minutes into the period. Basara later admitted that “I was actually looking to pass, but I saw him [Boyle] dip his shoulder to cheat to the middle, so I just shot. It hit him on the shoulder, up high, and went in.”

Muench staked the Vipers to a 2-0 lead with a power play goal at 17:01. In the Vipers’ spread offence, Dylan Walchuk’s pass from the left corner found Patrick McGillis in the slot. Muench came from the right corner to tap in the McGillis rebound.

The first half of the third period was primarily a defensive struggle as both teams stepped up the hitting. Three goals resulted from strong forechecking in the period.

First, at 6:02, Colton Sparrow gave the Vipers a 3-0 lead with a rising snap shot from the right faceoff circle after crunching hits by Trevor Fitzgerald and Aaron Hadley gave Sparrow some room to shoot. Sparrow said that he was just trying to put the puck on net, but it found the top corner over Boyle’s left shoulder.

Following the Sparrow goal, Westside ratcheted up its forecheck pressure, which resulted in turnovers and a series of faceoffs in the Viper end. Two of those faceoffs led to shots from the point that found their way past Blake Voth.

At 7:17, Peter McIntosh’s point shot was deflected up and over Blake Voth, who had no chance on the play.

Then, at 12:10 Matthew Maher’s innocent point shot eluded Voth, who otherwise had played very well in the Vernon net. Subsequently, Voth was called upon for some key saves down the stretch as Westside pressed for the equalizer.

The 1549 fans in attendance were treated to a well-played, hard-hitting game – the Vipers registered 43 hits while the Warriors responded with 30. The teams resume hostilities Wednesday at Vernon’s Wesbild Centre in what promises to be a tightly-contested series.