Vernon, BC: The Vernon Vipers had goals from Matt Kowalski and Jagger Williamson but it wasn't enough as the Langley Rivermen posted a 4-2 road win on Sunday afternoon.
The Vipers red hot powerplay struck early in the hockey game after the Vipers jumped out to a 5-0 shot advantage. Matt Kowalski had a fortunate bounce come his way in the slot and he spun and fired a shot through the wickets of Shayne Battler to make it 1-0. The Rivermen responded less than a minute later as a shot from far out from Riley Wallack fooled Bradley Cooper to tie the game at 1. Less than two minutes later a centering pass from Brian Scoville found Trevor Ayre at the side of the net and he gave his team the lead. Two goals on two shots spelled the end of the afternoon for Cooper who was replaced by Aidan Porter. It was a frustrating period for the Vipers who felt they had earned a few chances on the powerplay didn't get the calls. Chase Pletzke gave Langley a 3-1 lead as he kept on an odd man rush and ripped a shot home. The Vipers killed off a crucial sequence that saw them shorthanded 5 on 3 for a full two minutes with Lansdell and Williamson in the box, with the latter assessed a 10 minute misconduct. The Vipers also lost the services of Mark Ferner. The Vipers killed off the powerplay and nearly made it 3-2 as Teddy Wooding had an opportunity on a penalty shot, but Shayne Battler made the save.
In the second period, the Vipers pressed with 12 shots, but couldn't manufacture goals on rebounds in front of the net. Kalen Szeto extended his teams lead midway thru the period as a shot from the right circle snuck past Porter to make it 4-1. Despite the puck possession, the Vipers couldn't generate too many quality chances and trailed 4-1 heading into the 3rd period.
In the third, the Vipers again started out strong. Logan Cash had a great chance early on, but again Battler made the save. Jagger Williamson took advantage of a turnover ripping home his 11th of the season to make it 4-2. That seemed to give the Vipers life, but the time of possession didn't materialize into any more offense. The Vipers pulled Aidan Porter to try cut the deficit, but 4-2 was the way it would finish.
Here's the scoring summary:
1ST PERIOD
VER - Matt Kowalski (13) - Brendan Kim (10), Connor Marritt (23) - 3:47 (PPG)
LAN - Riley Wallack (3) - Matteo Pecchia (2) - 4:36
LAN - Trevor Ayre (24) - Brian Scoville (9) - 6:22
LAN - Chase Pletzke (12) - unassisted - 12:42
2ND PERIOD
LAN - Kalen Szeto (12) - Ryley Lanthier (8), Bronson Sharp (4) - 10:25
3RD PERIOD
VER - Jagger Williamson (11) - unassisted - 5:39
The Vipers will host the Coquitlam Express Wednesday night for the final home game of the regular season. It is also awards night as the hardware will be distributed on the ice after the game.
