Wranglers tame Vipers to win game seven

The Wranglers added to their lead off of a turnover in the Vipers end and a missed poke check by Whitbread, allowing Dylan Scheunert to make it 2-0.

4:33 into the second period, Sylvan Lake made it 3-0 when Beaudon Rider took a shot from the wall that went off the far post and in.

Halfway through the second period, the Vipers got on the board when Captain Justin Paarup walked out of the corner, got himself in the slot and snapped a shot low blocker to make it a 3-1 game.

Red Deer added a second goal before the period was over to make it 3-2 as Jarvis Gaume got his team right back into the game.

The third period opened with the game, and the series, up for grabs. Sylvan quickly decided that wasn’t the case when Opdendries stepped over the blue line and fired a slap shot bar-down 25 seconds into the final frame, making it 4-2.

The Vipers spent the rest of the final period chasing and were able to add a third goal of their own on a deflection by Paarup with twenty seconds to go. But that’s as close as the Vipers would come.

“We played a little bit hesitant to start the game off, tight on our sticks,” said Vipers head coach JD Morrical. “Getting down three nothing I wasn’t too nervous. Game sevens can go either way and I really liked the way we fought back. I think the goal to start the third off was the killer.”

“We said it the whole series, there’s not much that separates these two teams,” noted Wranglers bench boss Pat Garritty. “The boys played a perfect game. We went to war in that third period, rolled four lines, made sure we didn’t lose any battles and we just played for each other. Anytime you score in the first fifteen seconds of any period, any game let alone third period, game seven, that’s a good thing.”

The Wranglers will face the Mountainview Colts in the North Division final.

by Dan Hermanutz

Wranglers tame Vipers to win game seven

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