Vipers Shoot Down Stars In OT, Remain Unbeaten In New Year

Carson Woodall’s goal at 1:21 of overtime lifted the LaSalle Vipers to a 4-3 victory over the St. Thomas Stars on Wednesday night in LaSalle.

Cole Davis and Wylie Birkett scored just over a minute apart to give the home side a 3-1 lead midway through the third period, but the pesky visitors would rally in dramatic fashion, beginning when Michael Levin scored with the St. Thomas net empty at 17:54 to cut the Vipers lead to one. A LaSalle icing brought the puck back into their defensive zone for a faceoff with three seconds left, and the Stars were able to win the draw and Tyler Alexander’s point-shot unbelievably got through goaltender Tre Altiman right as the buzzer sounded to tie things up at 3-3.

Having won their previous game against Leamington in overtime, the Vipers looked undettered entering the extra frame and it wasn’t long before Woodall chased down a loose puck and snapped a perfect shot under the bar for the game-winner to give the Vipers the extra point in a wild finish to an exciting game.

Ethan Martin opened the scoring in the first period on a power-play, while Davis, Birkett and Brody Gillis all had two points on the night. Altiman made 39 stops to record his 11th win of the season between the pipes.

Having won all three of their games since the calendar flipped to 2023, the Vipers will look to keep it going in their next game which comes on Sunday night in Chatham against the Maroons. Game-time from the Memorial Arena is 7:00 PM