Vernon, BC: Christian Felton scored his 3rd of the season and James Porter Jr. stopped 24 of 27 as the Vipers fell 3-1 to the division leading Penticton Vees.
It was a pretty up tempo first period with both teams trading opportunities. With that came long stretches of free flowing action. The Vees opened the scoring as Tristan Amonte was set up in the slot and he ripped one past Porter Jr. to make it 1-0. The Vipers had a nice response following the goal. They would jump in on the forecheck, cause a turnover and Christian Felton's point shot found its way through traffic to tie it up at 1.
In the second, the Vipers had some good jump, but fell behind as a centering pass from behind the net found Liam Malmquist who slid it through Porter to make it 2-1. Shortly after the Vees increased their lead as an Evan McIntyre point shot got through a wall of bodies to make it 3-1. The Vipers had a few good looks in the remaining parts of the period but couldn't find the back of the net.
In the third, it was tough slogging as the Vees clogged up the neutral zone. The pace of play slowed a little, but the home side continued to try generate. Hunter Donohoe had a great look in front on a rebound, but the puck didn't find his stick. The Vipers kept trying to funnel pucks at the net, but no rebounds could be found. The Vipers had a couple of looks with the goalie pulled, but the buzzer sounded to end the game 3-1 in favour of the visitors.
The Vipers will next be in action on Saturday night when the league leading Coquitlam Express come to town.
