August 26, 2016
Kal Tire Place | Vernon
The Vernon Vipers dropped their second straight exhibition game at home losing 3-0 to the Merritt Centennials. The Vipers, who were looking to bounce back from a 4-1 loss the night before to Penticton, iced almost an entirely different squad that only featured a few veterans including Riley Brandt and Brett Stapley.
The opening period started rather uneventful with neither team finding the back of the net until late in the period when the Cents Ethan Skinner opened the scoring late in the period. Merritt’s Tyler Ward would score the games second goal in the 2nd period while parked all alone in front of the net. The Vipers couldn’t get a break in this one with the third goal coming off an easy save by Vernon’s Bill Cawthorn only to have it ricochet off of a Viper defenceman and back into his own net.
Vernon Vipers Assistant Coach Kevin Kraus says the players appeared to struggle with their line mates.
The Vipers are back on the road tomorrow night for an exhibition game in Merritt starting at 7:00pm. Next home game is Saturday September 3rd VS Salmon Arm – 6:00
