A lethal powerplay and solid goaltending spelled doom for the Kamloops Venom.
The Vernon Sun Valley Source For Sports Tigers scored five times on the powerplay, including two on a late five-minute advantage, and rookie goalie Darnell Hauca made 37 saves as the Tigers handed the Venom their first loss of the Thompson Okanagan Junior Lacrosse League season, 12-8, Wednesday night at Kal Tire Place.
“Darnell was great tonight, stopping a lot of the outside shots and he played awesome,” said Tigers forward Steele Pelletier – the game’s first star who fired four goals on the evening – of Hauca, who earned second star honours.
“The message before the game was simple: ‘Come out, play physical, don’t do anything stupid and stay out of the box.’”
The Tigers took only three minor penalties, while the Venom took six along with the five-minute penalty midway through the third period to Tylor Seabrooke.
The Venom were 6-0 entering the game against the 3-1-1 Tigers.
Kamloops jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first 3:29 but Vernon led 4-3 after the opening 20 minutes, and stretched the margin to 9-6 after 40 minutes, scoring three times on four powerplay chances.
The Venom got to within 9-8 before the Tigers pulled away, thanks to a pair of goals from rookie Jordan Reid and Pelletier on the major to Seabrooke.
Jordy Barr had three consecutive first-period goals for the Tigers, Quintin Harrish added two, while singles went to Sean Connors and Brett Olsen, who also chipped in four assists.
“We had a couple of defensive breakdowns and didn’t come out strong,” said Venom captain Riley Peterson, who had two goals on the night, as did veteran teammate Kyle Pauwels.
“Vernon definitely outworked us, got a lot of the loose balls tonight and outhustled us.”
The Tigers host the Armstrong Shamrocks (1-6) Wednesday, May 25, at 7:30 p.m. Their scheduled game versus the Kelowna Raiders Saturday was postponed.
n Kelowna Kodiaks edged the North Okanagan Fix Auto Legends 7-6 in minor lacrosse Novice division play.
Legends goalie Taylor Robins-Swanson stood on his head throughout the game, making several saves on breakaways.
Waylon Stowards and Mattias Roth had two goals each for Fix Auto, while singles went to Charlie Demers and Aidan Wattie.
Robins-Swanson continued his torrid play Sunday helping the Legends beat the Kamloops Rattlers 5-2.
“Our goalie was still on a roll from Saturday and played great in this game too,” said Legends coach Chad Pounder. “The kids played great defence to keep the shots on net to just 15.”
Wattie scored twice while singles went to Demers, Kian Yargeau and Kohen Pounder.
In Tyke division play, North Okangan Source For Sports Legends edged the Rattlers 3-2 with Chayton Tardiff earning the win in goal in a fun game between the two teams.
Connor Johnson scored two goals for the Legends, while Maddox McKim had the other.