The Vernon Nixon Wenger Vipers stared down all foes at a recent U13 Tier 3 minor hockey tournament in Williams Lake.
Troy Connolly’s squad went a perfect 5-0 to capture the gold medal.
“The kids played a true team game,” said Connolly. “The scoring was dispersed across the whole team and we were backstopped by some great goaltending from Cohen Bailey, who was rated the No. 1 goaltender in the tournament.”
Bailey played all five games and gave up 14 goals for a 2.80 goals against average. The Vipers scored 44 goals with every player recording at least one point.
Leading the way was Jonathon Vass, who finished first in tournament scoring with eight goals and five assists for 13 points.
Ryan Frick (7-5-12) and Layten Oliver (8-3-11) rounded out the top-three Vipers snipers. Six players from the team finished in the top-10 in tourney scoring.
Vernon’s closest game was a 7-5 decision over Fort St. John. The Vipers also defeated Terrace 9-3, Prince George 11-3, beat Fort St. John again, 7-1, and finished with a 10-2 romp over Williams Lake.
U13 TIER 1
A three-goal first period lifted the Vernon Watkin Motors Mustangs to a 6-2 league win over the Kelowna Rockets.
Berkeley Reid, Jace Hickin and Dominik Silbernagel scored in the opening 20 minutes for Vernon. Hudson Podollan and Hickin scored in the second and Silbernagel finished the scoring in the final frame.
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roger@vernonmorningstar.com
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