Vernon, BC: Thomas Tien scored his first BCHL goal and Luke Pakulak scored the game winner on a powerplay as the Vipers took down the Merritt Centennials 2-1 in overtime.
The Vipers dominated in the first 20 minutes and controlled the play throughout. Johnny Hicks had other ideas however turning aside all 16 shots put his way keeping it scoreless after 1.
In the second the Vipers powerplay had a look but couldn’t convert. The Cents however did on their chance on the man advantage as Jaxson Murray jumped on loose puck in the slot and fired it home. Vernon had a couple of real good looks including a 3 on 1 from Hank Cleaves that was stopped by Hicks.
The Vipers got a lucky one to draw even as Thomas Tien spun a puck to the front of the net from the corner and it banked in off a Centennial defender in front to even the game up. As expected the game tightened up the rest of the way and this game would need overtime.
The Vipers drew a powerplay early in overtime. Hank Cleaves let shot go from the left circle that was stopped, but Luke Pakulak was there to knock in the rebound giving the Vipers the big victory in front of over 1800 fans.
The Vipers are back in action Friday night in Surrey as they take on the Eagles.
