A30 Wednesday, December 12, 2012 - The Morning Star
Sports
Editor: KEvin MitchEll
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www.vernonmorningstar.com
E-Mail: sports@vernonmorningstar.com
Vipers face BCHL holiday hurdles Morning Star Staff
The Vernon Vipers have a lot of ground to make up, and with four Interior Division games before the Christmas break, they may not get a better opportunity to get back in the B.C. Hockey League playoff race. Five points separate the second-place Merritt Centennials (15-10-1-1) from the last-place Snakes (10-13-0-7), however Vernon will need a monumental turnaround to climb the standings. The Vipers dropped their third straight game Saturday night, falling 4-3 to the Alberni Valley Bulldogs in front of 1,600 fans at Wesbild Centre. Vernon entertains the first-place Penticton Vees (207-0-3) Friday at Wesbild before heading to the Kootenays Saturday to tangle with the Trail Smoke Eaters (14-18-0-1) at Cominco Arena. “We’ve lost a lot of one-goal hockey games and we need to change that,” said Vernon head coach Jason Williamson. “It’s tight. We’ve just got to get in (to playoffs), and I have faith that we will.” Williamson had less faith in the officiating Saturday. The 16-11-1-4 Bulldogs’ Jon Brumwell, with his second of the season, scored the winner on the powerplay off a goalmouth scramble with 2:26 to play. The man advantage came after a marginal goalie interference call by referee Ward Pateman on Vernon’s Mitch McAllister. “He screwed it up,” said Williamson. “That just seems to be the way things are going right now. We can’t afford to have the ref be the difference in the game. “We put ourselves in a bad spot being down 3-1 early, but we should have at least sent it to overtime.” The Vipers’ three most recent recruits – Liam Board (7th goal), second star Dexter Dancs (3rd) and Andrew Tegeler (1st) – handled Vernon’s scoring against the Dawgs. Ryan Lough, pocketing his 13th and 14th goals, and Matthew Hansen, with his sixth, pegged Alberni to a twogoal lead after one period. “The new players have brought some life and jump into our lineup,” said Williamson. “They’ve bought into what we’re trying to do here. Taking a line from Janet Jackson’s 1986 pop classic What Have You Done For Me Lately?, Williamson added: “We’ve had some underachievers and if the new guys are going to come in and take the jobs of the guys that have been here,
Natalia VigNola/MorNiNg Star
Vernon Vipers' Mitch McAllister is hassled by the Alberni Valley Bulldogs' Kurt Gosselin in B.C. Hockey League action Saturday night at Wesbild Centre. The Bulldogs scored a late powerplay goal to ground Vernon 4-3. then so be it.” Dancs’ play has earned him a shot on Vernon’s top line with Adam Tambellini and Pearce Eviston; Williamson’s other units include Board, Aaron Hadley and Tegeler; Colton Sparrow, Brendan Persley and Braedan Russell; and Logan Mick, McAllister and Michael Roberts. SNAKE BITES: Former Viper forward Jedd Soleway had
four points in two games since being traded to the Vees last week. After collecting an assist in his debut, a 7-1 win over the Centennials Friday night, Soleway had a goal and two helpers and was named first star as the Vees iced the Langley Rivermen 5-1 Saturday...Vernon forward TJ Dumonceaux has missed the last three games with a knee injury, and Craig Martin is still recovering from a broken ankle.
Perepolkin sweeps field for B.C. berth Morning Star Staff
MorNiNg Star File
Vernon skip Trevor Perepolkin tracks his shot.
This is probably the first year since he was 14 that Trevor Perepolkin hasn’t played in the local Super Curling League. The step back doesn’t seem to have diminished his skill level much. Perepolkin, who instead curls Mondays with “a group of buddies,” iced Kamloops’ Michael Smith 9-6 in the A Final of the Okanagan Zone Men’s Playdowns Sunday morning at the Kelowna Curling Club. Perepolkin – backed by Armstrong’s Tyler Orme at third, and the front end of Kamloops’ James McKenzie and Kelowna’s
Chris Anderson – will compete in provincials, Feb. 5-10, in Parksville. “We’ve been real close in the last few years to qualify, so it’s nice to get back there,” said Perepolkin, the father of sixmonth-old daughter Hana. Perepolkin’s rink practises together once a week, and they have stayed competition ready by entering World Curling Tour events in Vernon, Kamloops and Red Deer. With provincials a reality, he added: “We’ll dial it up a notch. We’re just half a step off being a very competitive team.” Jamie Sexton’s Vernon rink of third
Michael Longworth and front-enders Hugh Bennett and Jon Gardner, claimed the second B.C. berth by shading Smith 8-7 in the B final. Sexton started at 1-2, but then reeled off four wins to advance. The march started with a 7-6 win over Kamloops’ Brent Yamada Saturday, and continued with Sunday wins over Kelowna’s David Mellof (9-4) and Kamloops’ Scott DeCap (7-6). Meanwhile, Vernon’s Jim Cotter begins the Canadian Open of Curling tonight (7:00) against Calgary’s Kevin Koe at Prospera Place in Kelowna.
For the curling fans on your Christmas list, there’s no better stocking stuffer than
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