Merritt, BC – March 30, 2012
Logan Johnston's goal early in the second period stood up as the winner as the Penticton Vees beat the Merritt Centennials 3-2 Friday night at the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena.
With the win, the Vees lead the best-of-seven BCHL Interior Conference Final Series two-games-to-one.
Penticton opened the scoring just 2:45 into the first period on an unassisted goal by Cody DePourcq. Wade MUrphy extended the Vees lead to 2-0 16 seconds later. At 5:49, Ross Mancuso got the Cents on the board before Brent Fletcher tied the game at two with just 1:33 left in the opening frame.
Johnston rounded out the scoring for the Vees at 1:01 of the middle stanza as he put the winning goal past Tyler Steel.
Jakob Reichert, Silvan Harper, Billy Marshall and Carter Shinkaruk each had an assist for Merritt in the loss.
Steel finished with 23 saves while Chad Katunar kicked out 24 shots for Penticton.
Merritt hosts Penticton in Game Four on Saturday night at 7:30 at the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena.
For further information, please contact Cents Head Coach & GM Luke Pierce at 250-378-3607.
Fans looking to purchase advance, reserved Interior Conference Final playoff tickets can do so on Saturday from 12 – 3 pm at the Centennials Marketing Office (2185 Voght Street).
Reserved tickets are available on Saturday, March 31 and Tuesday, April 3 (if necessary) from 3 – 6 pm at the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena.
All tickets purchased after 6 pm on game days are general admission and subject to availability. For more information, please call Cents Marketing Manager Rachael Sanders at 250-378-3604.
Exclusive Cents merchandise is available at both Booster Club Booths at the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena during all Centennials games. Merchandise includes t-shirts, hats, hoodies, souvenirs and much more.
Select merchandise is also available outside of game hours at the Cents Marketing Office (2185 Voght Street) and at Merritt Printing (1951 Garcia Street).
Throughout the playoffs, fans are encouraged to go to MerrittCentennials.com for exclusive coverage including photo galleries, post-game coverage and more. For extensive pre-and-post-game analysis by the Cents play-by-play voice, Alex Grebenyuk, visit centscentral.blogspot.com
The Merritt Centennials, proudly celebrating 39 seasons as the BCHL's longest continuously run franchise, is a non-profit, community owned Junior 'A' Hockey Club run by a dedicated team of investors, directors, and volunteers.
Stay current with the latest team news by visiting www.merrittcentennials.com. In addition, stay connected with the Cents on Facebook (/merrittcentennials) and Twitter (@merrittcents)
