Mar. 04 / 08

By Guy Bertrand
Times Sports Editor

The Trail Smoke Eaters 2007-08 season came to a disappointing end last night.

The Vernon Vipers completed their first round sweep with a 5-0 win over Trail in front of approximately 900 fans at the Cominco Arena.

Montrose native Connor Jones led Vernon with a goal and three assists for a four-point night while brother Kellen Jones picked up two assists. The win gave Vernon a 3-0 sweep in their best-of-five Interior quarter-final.

It was a tough exit for the Smokies who failed to get the crowd going by putting a puck past Vernon goalie Lucas Gore who stopped all 24 shots he faced.

None of the potential fireworks carried over from Saturday's battle in Vernon materialized as teams stuck to playing the game.

Meanwhile, Trail had to stage any kind of comeback without their top player, captain Kevin Limbert, who was ejected from the game midway through the second on a hit- from-behind. Nevertheless, it would've taken five Limberts to put a dent in Vernon's solid effort last night.

The Vipers took a 1-0 lead with the only goal of the first when Connor Jones deflected a point shot from Kyle Bigos for a power play goal midway through the period.

The Smokies had the jump to start the second but another deflected point shot got past Trail goalie Grant Rollheiser to make it 2-0 five minutes into the middle frame.

Trail had its opportunity to get back in the game with a 47-second two-man advantage but failed to muster much offence.

Vernon added another goal to its lead then stuck to a defensive plan in the final frame but still managed a couple of goals to seal the win and the series.

The Vipers will await the result of the Salmon Arm-Prince George series before its Interior semifinal opponent is determined.

Prince George stayed alive last night with a 4-2 win in Salmon Arm. However, Salmon Arm still holds a 2-1 lead in the series.