HOCKEY: VALENCIA VIPERS SHOW FORTITUDE LATE GAME RALLY ENDS IN NEAR WIN.

Byline: GIDEON RUBIN Staff Writer

VALENCIA -- After spending most of Sunday's season opening 7-6 overtime loss to the San Diego Surf mired in futility, something finally clicked for the Valencia Vipers Jr. B hockey team.

After settling for perimeter shots most of the game, the Vipers began to force the issue in the third period. They established a presence in front of the San Diego net, screened the goalie and created better scoring opportunities, Valencia coach Larry Bruyere said.

Valencia took advantage of those chances, rallying from a 6-3 deficit in the third period to send the game into overtime.

``Throughout most of the game we playing peripheral hockey,'' Vipers coach Larry Bruyere said. ``We had 58 shots, when you get that many shots you expect to win, but most of our shots were coming from the periphery.''

Chris Gale and Peter Zamkochyan each scored two goals for the Vipers.

Abe Palezyan scored the tying goal with just over three minutes remaining.

Bruyere said Valencia's performance had the feel of a season-opener. The Vipers, who are fielding their youngest team since the team was formed in 2001, made a lot of mistakes that are to be expected for an experienced team in an early season game.

``Any time you give up seven goals you can't be too happy, but I think we showed some fortitude coming back in the third period the way we did,'' Bruyere said.

Formidable foe:

The Vipers play host to the perennially dominant Phoenix Polar Bears for the three-game series that began Friday. The two teams play tonight at 7:30 and Sunday at 10 a.m.

Phoenix (3-0) has already outscored its opponents by 24 goals.

``Phoenix is always strong and this year is no exception,'' Bruyere said. ``Our goal is to play solid middle-of-the ice hockey. We feel if we can keep the scores down we have a chance to steal a game or two.''

Top-tier program:

The Tier 2 Midget SoCal Vipers 18-and-under team based out of Valencia and Simi Valley's Easy Street Ice Arena, is ranked fourth in the nation by nationalyouthhockeyrankings.com.

gideon.rubin(at)dailynews.com

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