Viper Vault

_{Riley Hunt jump starts the Vipers. Photo: Roger Tepper, Edge Photography}

Vernoncentral.ca Star of the Game Video.

Riley Hunt's first BCHL goal gave the Vipers an early lead which they translated into a 4-1 win over Merritt on Friday.

The Vipers fashioned their fourth straight win on home ice largely due to goals by former linemates, Darren Nowick, Mike Zalewski, and John Knisley. Nowick, who had missed the previous 10 games with an upper body injury, also collected an assist. He continued a trend of Viper players scoring in their first game returning from injury. Turner Lawson and John Knisley had accomplished the same feat on the home stand that concluded with this game.

After Evan Stack had tied the game with a power play goal at 7:04 of the second period, Nowick went to work.

He stole the puck deep in the Merritt zone and spotted John Knisley free in the right faceoff circle. Knisley's one-timed snap shot beat Tyler Steel on the glove side at 14:51. Then, with 1.5 seconds remaining in the period Mike Zalewski scored a beauty.

Zalewski received Adam Tambellini's pass at the Merritt blue line, stick handled around two defenders, swerved left and shot against the grain to beat Steel high glove side.

Darren Nowick finished the scoring when he raced behind the Merritt net and swept in a wraparound backhand at 3:51 of the third period. Nowick admitted that he "felt a little rusty at the beginning of the game, but [he] felt more comfortable before the first period was over."

_{Turner Lawson-(28)-lands a punch on Billy Marshall. Photo: Don Klepp}Jason Williamson, Viper Coach, was pleased to have Nowick back in the lineup. "I think this is the first time we've had all 12 regular forwards dressed since the first game of the season. We plugged him into the third line with Johnny [Knisley] and Spares [Colton Sparrow] and they might have been our best unit tonight."

The crowd of 1753 roared their approval on Hunt's goal. He started the play in his zone with a deft pass to Jedd Soleway and hustled to follow Soleway into the Centennial zone. Hunt jumped on the rebound of Soleway's shot and rifled it just under the crossbar.

After the game, Hunt was more interested in talking about playing defence. "I think we've given up only four goals in the last four games, so that's what we'll need to keep doing in order to grab a playoff spot. Coach wants us to keep the shots against down, at least under 30."

The Vipers and Centennials are heading in opposite directions: the Cents lost their sixth straight contest while the Vipers have now won five in a row. The Centennials' frustrations boiled over in the third period as they goaded Viper players into a series of fights. First, Silvan Harper went after Aaron Hadley; then, Sean Maktaak found Ben Gamache to be a willing combatant; finally, Billy Marshall persuaded Turner Lawson to join in a spirited bout.

This coming Tuesday the two teams will renew their rivalry in Merritt.

Meanwhile, the Vipers will travel to Chilliwack on Saturday for a showdown between two teams with identical records of 25-20-1-2.