Merritt, BC: The Vipers had goals from Seiya Tanaka-Campbell and Hank Cleaves and a solid performance from Roan Clarke, but it wasn’t enough as the comeback fell a bit short as the Merritt Centennials took the game 4-2.
The Centennials opened the scoring on a powerplay as Kyle Isenberg let a hard wrist shot go from inside the right circle with traffic in front that beat Clarke to the glove side make it 1-0. Just over four minutes later the Vipers evened the game up as Lee Parks set up Seiya Tanaka-Campbell who tallied his second goal of the season. The shots edged the Vipers 13-11, but it was 1-1 after 1.
The second period was flat for the visitors as the Cents took over most of the momentum. The Vipers had some chances, but either hit the goal post or missed the net. The Vipers made one glaring mistake in the period and Jackson Krill made them pay for it as he wired a hard wrist shot on a 2 on 1 to give Merritt a 2-1 lead after 2 periods.
A goal mouth scrambled early in the third gave Merritt a 3-1 lead. The Vipers disputed it as it appeared Clarke was shoved into the goal, but the officials gathered and determined it was a good goal. The Vipers pushed hard in the period and thanks to a powerplay got the game within one as a centering pass from Reagan Milburn either went in off a Centennial or Hank Cleaves to make it 3-2. The goal was credited to Cleaves. The Vipers pulled the goalie attempting to get the game tied, but Mark Thurston hit the empty net with 6 seconds left giving the Cents the 4-2 win.
The Vipers are back at it in West Kelowna on Friday night at 7pm
