The B.C. Hockey League’s Fred Page Cup came to a screeching halt as the Coquitlam Express completed a sweep of the Vernon Vipers.
The Express won 4-3 Tuesday night at the Poirier Sports and Leisure Centre. Coquitlam captured their first Fred Page Cup since moving from Burnaby. They now advance to the Crescent Point Energy Western Canada Cup, April 25-May 4, in Dauphin, Man.
“Three one-goal losses in a row makes it really tough to swallow,” said Vipers’ head coach Jason Williamson.
Jace Hennig got the night started for the Express at 3:19 in the first from Cody Boyd.
Colton Sparrow tied the game 42 seconds into the second, from Brett Mulcahy and Brendan Persley.
Canon Pieper cut the Vipers’ lead in half with his seventh of the playoffs from his brother Bo and Mark Whiteley, 7:15 into the second.
Persley and Sparrow tried to carry the Snakes the rest of the way. Persley scored twice in the second half of the second, both coming on feeds from Sparrow.
Bo Pieper tied the game 1:43 in the third, from Joey Santucci.
Down 3-0 in the series, tied late in the third period, the Vipers headed to the powerplay when Marc Biega took a hooking penalty.
D-man Riley Guenther, just returning from injured reserve, lost the puck on the power play, giving Adam Rockwood a chance to take the lead on a breakaway. Rockwood, the Game 2 hero, punched his team’s ticket to Dauphin with four minutes and change left.
Sparrow appeared to tie the game with seconds to play, but the goal was waved off due to a hand pass.
The Vipers now have 25 days off. They won’t play a meaningful game until the RBC Cup, which goes May 10-18 at Kal Tire Place.
