FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Penticton, BC – March 28, 2012
The Merritt Centennials scored four times in just over 11 minutes in the second period en route to a 4-3 win over the Penticton Vees Wednesday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
With the win, the best-of-seven BCHL Interior Conference Final Series is now tied a one game apiece.
Just like Game One, Penticton opened the scoring in the first period on a power play as Travis St. Denis beat Centennials netminder Tyler Steel and the opening frame ended 1-0 Vees.
Chad Brears got the Cents on the board at 4:52 of the second period on a power play of their own before Silvan Harper scored just 19 seconds later to give Merritt its first lead of the series. Evan Stack made it 3-1 Centennials at 8:50 and Brent Fletcher increased the lead to 4-1 at 15:54. St. Denis tallied his second of the night at 16:02 to make it 4-2 Merritt heading to the third period.
In the final frame, Steven Fogarty brought the Vees to within one at 11:18 but that's as close as Penticton got as the Centennials hung on for the win.
Regan Soquila had two assists for Merritt while Stack, Fletcher, Harper, Jakob Reichert, Billy Marshall and Brendan Lamont each had a single helper.
Steel finished with 29 saves for the Centennials while Chad Katunar kicked out 19 shots in net for Penticton.
Merritt hosts Penticton in Game Three on Friday 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 Thursday – Saturday from 12 – 3 pm at the Centennials Marketing Office (2185 Voght Street).
Reserved tickets are also available on Friday, March 30, 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)
