Game 5 – Vipers 8 Chiefs 3
The Vernon Viper did everything but win last night against the Coquitlam Express, tonight they kept with the process from a night ago, but this team were rewarded early and often in an 8-3 route of the reigning Mainland Division Champion Chilliwack Chiefs.
It started just 8 seconds into their first powerplay as former Chief, Darren Rizzolo, would sneak in the back door and take a nice pass from Tufto to convert and make it 1-0. One minute later Joey Cipollone would pot home a rebound to make it 2-0 Vipers. Three minutes after, on a delayed penalty to the Chiefs, Riley Brandt would skate in from the left side and end Aidan Pelino’s night with a hard shot glove side to make it 3-0. The Vipers scored 3 goals on 4 shots in 5:10. Matteo Esposito would replace Pelino and be tested right away, but had no chance on a centering pass from Steven Jandric that was put in by Liam Finlay to make it 4-0 Vipers after 1 period.
It was all Chilliwack in the second period in most statistical category, expect where it counted, on the scoreboard. The Chiefs really looked like they simplified their game and it served them well testing Viper goaltender Schamerhorn 21 times in 20 minutes. The Vipers got the first goal of the frame and again it was off the stick Riley Brandt from the nearly identical spot to his first goal. The Chiefs would get on the board thanks to a nifty move from Jesse Lansdell to finish off a pass from Olischefski. Less than two minutes later Vimal Sukumaran one timed a nice pass from Kawaguchi past Schamehor to make it 5-2 Vipers after 2 periods.
The Chiefs were forced to play a little more open than I’m sure they wanted to heading into the third period and an early pinched resulted in a 3 on 0 for the Vipers and Odeen Tufto would finish the play off to make it 6-2. Colton McCarthy would add a goal 7 minutes later to make it 7-2. The Chiefs would get a powerplay goal from Mark Esposito, before Steven Jandric iced it into an empty net giving the Vipers their first home win of the season by a score of 8-3.
Here is the official scoring summary:
SCORING SUMMARY
PERIOD 1
1-0 Vernon Vipers at 2:15 (PP) – Darren Rizzolo from Odeen Tufto
2-0 Vernon Vipers at 2:20 – Joe Cipollone from Nicholas Rasovic and Brett Stapley
3-0 Vernon Vipers at 5:10 – Riley Brandt from Odeen Tufto and Bo Pellah
4-0 Vernon Vipers at 10:08 – Liam Finlay from Steven Jandric
PERIOD 2
5-0 Vernon Vipers at 6:28 – Riley Brandt from Jimmy Lambert
5-1 Chilliwack Chiefs at 14:17 – Jesse Lansdell from Kohen Olischefski and Connor McCarthy
5-2 Chilliwack Chiefs at 15:48 (PP) – Vimal Sukumaran from Jordan Kawaguchi and Dennis Cholowski
PERIOD 3
6-2 Vernon Vipers at 4:17 – Odeen Tufto from Liam Finlay
7-2 Vernon Vipers at 11:01 – Colton McCarthy from Jimmy Lambert
8-2 Vernon Vipers at 14:09 (EN)- Steven Jandric from Mitchell Oliver
8-3 Chilliwack Chiefs at 15:10 (PP) – Mark Esposito from Jake Smith and Eric Benshadle
STARS OF THE GAME
1st STAR 2nd STAR 3rd STAR
Vernon Vipers Riley Brandt Vernon Vipers Odeen Tufto Vernon Vipers Bo Pellah
POWER PLAYS
Chilliwack Chiefs 2 for 4 (50.0%) Vernon Vipers 1 for 6 (16.7%)
The Vipers were very impressive 5 on 5 tonight. They didn’t give up too many quality scoring chances, and took advantage of almost every single chance they would be presented with. Not a bad way to finish off home games in September. The Vipers won’t be at home for almost three weeks as they head to the showcase, then the island.
Next up for the Vipers is a mid afternoon matchup against the Wenatchee Wild at the BCHL Bauer Showcase. The pregame show starts at 3:15 on 107.5 KissFM
