POST GAME: The Merritt Centennials, (11-13-2-1), got their revenge on the West Kelowna Warriors, (16-13-1-0) tonight as they got past the Warriors 7-4.
Austin Roden got the nod for the Cents as the Warriors put Cole Demers in net. Roden has started in four games now for the Cents since being acquired from the Nanaimo Clippers earlier this season, Roden has a save percentage of .935 with a 2.71 of GAA.
The Cents opened up the scoring at 17:17 of the first period, that goal coming from Joey Berkopec and the assist coming from Chase Bell. Berkopec has four goals on the season now. The Warriors wouldn’t go down without a fight, at 19:15, it was Stephan Kleysen got the puck past Roden with help from, Willie Reim and RJ Murphy .
The second period is when things really got going. At 5:37 of that period, it was the Warriors that jumped ahead to a 2-1 lead, that goal coming from Chase Dubois; but the Cents weren’t going down easy, at 9:14, Nick Wicks tied things up at two when he got the puck past Demers with the help from Zach Court and Bradley Cocca. Then at 12:08 the Warriors jumped back up to retake the lead 3-2, and that goal coming from Chase Stevenson, that goal also being a power play goal. It looked like the Warriors were going to start the third with a 3-2 lead, but with just 41 seconds left in the second, Rylan Van Unen went bottom glove on Cole Demers and tied things right back up.
The third period is when the Cents really got going; just 5:15 in, Zach Court set up Zach Zorn for his eighth of the season and the Centennials retook the lead. At 10:55 Brendan Schneider was set up nicely from Tyrell Buckley and just like that the Cents were up 6-3. At 16:20 of the third, leading scorer Henry Cleghorn got his 11th of the season on an empty net goal to make it 7-3 for the Cents, but with 17:10 left in the game, the Warriors got one back thanks to Max Bulawka.
Austin Roden faced 50 shots while Cole Demers saw 26 shots.
The next game action for the Centennials goes tomorrow night over in Trail versus the Smoke Eaters, (19-7-2-0). You can listen live on Q101 with play by play broadcaster Jared Thomas; pregame goes at 6:45 with puck drop is at 7.
BC Fortis Player of the Game: Zach Court
3rd Star: Tyrell Buckley
2nd Star: Austin Roden
1st Star: Zach Zorn
