Vipers stung in overtime

by Liam Higgins

The LaSalle Vipers suffered an overtime upset against the Leamington Flyers.

The much-rivaled teams battled it out Feb. 12 with a competitive, energetic and aggressive game that required extra time at the Vollmer Recreational Complex. The Flyers, who were just one point behind LaSalle in the regular season standings, prevailed in overtime, sealing their 4-3 victory.

Nathan Savage opened the scoring for the Vipers nine minutes into the first period.
Devon Paliani and Bryce Mayea picked up assists on the goal.

Leamington started off the third period with another goal from forward David Dalby, but it wasn’t long before the Vipers rallied back with two of their own from forwards Mark Manchurek and Dylan Denomme bringing the game into overtime with a score of 3-3.

After two and half minutes of play in overtime, Flyers forward Tony Spidalieri ended the game on a partial breakaway beating Vipers goalie Paolo Battisti with a back-hand shot.

Vipers head coach Bill Bowler said each loss is a lesson learned and that he expects to see an interesting playoff run for the team.

“The great thing about our league is there’s a lot of parody,” said Bowler. “So even though if you finish above in the standings, I don’t know if it means a lot. It’s all about who plays the best hockey.”