The Scotiabank Tier 2 Bantam Silvertips played a pair of games to finish out the regular season last weekend, narrowly defeating West Kelowna at the Shaw Centre on Sunday before losing a close one to Penticton.
After surrendering the opening goal to the Warriors on Saturday, Taylor Howard got the Tips on the board with time running down in the first, depositing a juicy rebound from a tipped point shot. West Kelowna would regain their lead early in the second, but Marino Bordin tied it back up for Salmon Arm, following his own rebound to the slot and firing top corner. Again the Warriors would take the lead early in the third, but, just 43 seconds later, Connor Kociuba sniped a beauty just under the bar shorthanded. The game seemed destined to end in a tie, but the Tips just wouldn’t be denied. With just 27 seconds left in the game, Tyson McCaig’s rocket from the point found its way to the back of the net to hand Salmon Arm the victory.
On Sunday the Silvertips travelled to Penticton for their last regular season game versus the league leading Vees. The home team’s game plan appeared to be to intimidate Salmon Arm with their physical play, but the Tips gave back in kind and opened the scoring at the 12 minute mark. Penticton pounced on the few lapses in coverage by the Silvertips, and scored the next three unanswered. The power play connected for Tips half way through the third to give them some life, and they would score again with just 3 minutes left to get within one and set up a whale of a finish. But with a late power play opportunity and the goalie pulled for a second extra attacker, they just couldn’t finish the comeback, falling by a 4-3 final.
The Tips are idle next weekend before the playoffs in February.