The Spruce Grove Saints received a stellar performance from goaltender Vince Marozzi and scored a trio of goals in the second period en route to a 3-1 victory on Thursday night at the Wesbild Centre. With the win, the Saints forced a Game 6 in the 2010 Doyle Cup series, which is set for Saturday evening.
Mike Collins opened the scoring on a second period power-play, finally beating Marozzi on the Vipers' 18th shot of the night. But the lead wouldn't last long, as Codie Kurran put Spruce Grove on the board at the 10:29 mark of the frame.
With momentum on their side, the visitors kept pressing an were rewarded with a Nate Fleming tally just three minutes later. Josh Koper then capped the scoring for the Saints during a brief four-on-four, finishing off a play set up by Curran and Fleming.
The Vipers fired 38 shots on Marozzi, including 16 in the second period and 11 in the third, but were foiled by a number of point-blank saves. The Spruce Grove netminder was a well-deserving recipient of the game's first star. At the other end of the ice, Vernon's Graeme Gordon turned aside 17 shots in the loss.
The teams will now have an off-day before the series resumes on Saturday, as Spruce Grive looks to force a seventh and deciding game a night later. Faceoff is set for 7:00 PM from the Wesbild Centre in Vernon.
