Missing a handful of their best players, the Warriors came out on the wrong end of a 2-1 decision in Vernon on Tuesday night.
With Richard Vanderhoek, Max French, Travis Blanleil, Connor Dempsey and Seb Lloyd all out with injury and Shawn Hochhausen serving a two-game suspension, Westside played terrific defensive hockey but struggled to find offence.
Mike Zalewski gave Vernon a 1-0 lead late in the second period when he deflected the puck past Steve Racine after some terrific control from John Knisley. The Vipers made it 2-0 five minutes into the third when Jedd Soleway converted a scramble in the Westside crease.
Desperate to beat Vernon’s Kirby Halcrow, the Warriors pulled Racine on a late powerplay to gain a 6-on-4 advantage. The move paid dividends when Tyler Krause jammed in a loose puck (his team leading 10th goal of the season) to get Westside within one with 53 seconds remaining.
It would be the last chance Westside would get, as the Vipers held on for a 2-1 victory.
For the banged-up Warriors, it’s a fifth straight defeat despite another strong effort. “It’s always tough to play without some of those leaders on your team” Garrett Skrbich admitted after the game. “But I think we did a nice job … the younger guys really stepped up and we played a pretty good game.”
Skrbich also gave credit to a Vipers program renowned for stingy defence, saying “they did a good job of clearing the rebounds away, and we had a tough time getting good chances.”
The Warriors outshot Vernon 30-26 in the game, including 15-5 in the final period. Steve Racine was tagged with the loss, while Kirby Halcrow earned the second star in his winning performance.
Westside returns to action on Friday night in Salmon Arm before hosting Penticton on Saturday.
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