Less than 24 hours after going ahead early and fading late, the Vernon Vipers traded places on Wednesday en route to a crucial 4-2 victory over the Brockville Braves at Credit Union Place in Dauphin, MB.
With the win, the British Columbia Hockey League champions clinched second place in the five-team round-robin and will be the home team in a semi-final match-up on Saturday afternoon against either Brockville or La Ronge.
The BCHL champs had to fight from behind for the victory, however, as they fell behind early when Shayne Thompson beat Blake Voth at the 3:44 mark of the first period. Thompson then set up teammate Shayne Stockton at 4:27 of the second frame to extend the lead to two goals, setting up an uphill battle for Vernon in the game's final 20 minutes.
Sahir Gill put the Vipers on the board just over a minute into the third on a power-play, while Kevin Kraus tied the game moments later off a Dylan Walchuk feed. The Pacific reps then went ahead at the 17:25 mark on a solo effort from David Robinson before Cole Ikkala put the game away with an empty net tally.
Voth started his first game since the second round of the BCHL playoffs was beaten on the first shot he faced, but 18-year old was stellar from that point forward in a 26-save performance. At the other end of the ice, the Vipers poured 44 shots on Braves starter Justin Gilbert, including 21 in the third period.
The Vipers will now have two days off before facing the winner of Thursday night's match-up between the Braves and the La Ronge Ice Wolves. Saturday's early semi-final that is set to face-off at 2:00 PM.
