Penticton, BC – December 7, 2012
The Merritt Centennials outshot the home team, but fell 7-1 to the Penticton Vees in BCHL action on Friday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
Penticton (19-7-0-3) opened the scoring at 9:42 of the first period on a goal by Sam Mellor. Merritt (14-10-1-1) outshot the Vees 10-5 in the opening frame, but the game was 1-0 Penticton heading to the second period.
The Vees exploded for four goals in the middle frame. Cody DePourq scored twice, at 4:53 and 9:20, while Brock Balson added to the lead at 16:38 and Louie Nanne tallied on a power play at 19:19. The Cents outshot Penticton 15-9 and 25-14 overall to that point, but were still down 5-0.
Penticton increased its lead to 6-0 just 1:46 into the third period on a power play as Nanne scored his second of the night before Kevin Lohan broke the shutout for Merritt, tallying on a power play at 15:16. Nanne completed his hat trick for the Vees at 16:33. The Centennials outshot Penticton in the third, 11-7 and 36-21 overall.
Merritt's Charlie Donlin and Sebastien Pare each assisted on Lohan's goal in the loss.
Tyler Steel started the game for the Centennials and stopped nine Vees shots before Russell Sanderson came on in relief at the start of the third period. Sanderson finished with five saves. Chad Katunar was excellent in goal for Penticton, kicking out 35 Merritt shots.
The Cents went 1-for-8 on the power play while the Vees were 2-for-5 on their man advantages.
For further information, please contact Cents Head Coach and GM Luke Pierce at 250-378-3607 or email [email protected]
The Cents next game is Saturday, December 8 as they continue their 40th season of junior 'A' hockey at the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena for the lone visit of the season by former Merritt defenceman Jim Ingram behind the bench of the Cowichan Valley Capitals. Game time is 7:30 pm.
Follow the Cents on Twitter at @BCHLCentennials and on Facebook.com/MerrittCentennials
10 and 15 Game Packs are still available for the 2012-13 season. For more information on how to get yours, call the Cents Marketing office at 250-378-3604.
The Merritt Centennials, proudly celebrating 40 seasons as the BCHL's longest continuously run franchise, are a non-profit, community owned Junior 'A' Hockey Club run by a dedicated team of investors, directors, and volunteers.
