The Vernon Vipers captured their second consecutive Interior Conference regular season title on Friday night, scoring a trio of first period goals en route to a 4-1 victory over the Salmon Arm SilverBacks.
Mark Zengerle opened the scoring for the home side 4:43 into regulation, but Dan Nycholat drew the Vipers even less than two minutes later before Mike Collins and Rob Short each hit the scoresheet in the second half of the period. David Robinson tallied on a power-play in the middle frame to provide insurance for the visitors.
Short and Cory Kane each cashed in with two points on the night for Vernon, while netminder Blake Voth shut down the SilverBacks' attack for the final 55 minutes of regulation. Voth finished the evening with 24 saves.
With the victory, the Vipers wrapped up the first-round postseason bye that accompanies the regular season conference title. Vernon will conclude the regular season with a visit to Westside on Saturday and a home date against the Surrey Eagles on Sunday afternoon.
In other Interior Conference-based action:
- The Quesnel Millionaires took care of business early, striking for four goals in the first period of a 4-1 victory over Burnaby. Darick Ste-Marie led the charge for the Mills, opening the scoring four minutes in and assisting on goals by Joshua Desmarais and Jacob Verheyden. Colby Kulhanek was the only Express player to beat Kirvy Halcrow, who finished the night with 21 saves.
- The Williams Lake Timberwolves ended a long losing drought, scoring three times in the third period of a 4-3 victory in Prince George. Clayton McEwan and Justin Bardarson started the rally, while Ryan Stanimir scored with seven seconds left in regulation to secure the win. Evan Dauenhauer made 27 saves in the victory.
- Beau Bennett continued his assault on the BCHL scoring lead currently held by Mark Zengerle, assisting four times as the Penticton Vees topped Westside by a 5-4 score. Bo Dolan scored on a power-play with 27 seconds remaining to put the Vees ahead for good, while Garrett Milan earned the first star nod following a two-goal evening.
- The Surrey Eagles kept themselves in the mix for home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs with a 3-2 road win over Trail. Adam Basford and Richard Vanderhoek each scored and assisted for the Eagles, and Basford netted the game winner on a third period power-play. Sam Mellor and Matt Wilkins were the only two Smoke Eaters to beat Vinny Lessard on 28 shots.
