Salmon Arm, BC – November 30, 2012
The Merritt Centennials rallied back from a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Salmon Arm SilverBacks 5-3 in BCHL action on Friday night at the Shaw Centre.
Silvan Harper opened the scoring for Merritt (14-9-1-1) at the 4:09 mark of the first period before Salmon Arm (10-13-1-3) struck for two goals, the first by Evan Anderson at 7:16 and the second by Brendan Kennedy at 17:55. Shots through 20 minutes were 12-8 in favour of the Centennials.
The SilverBacks took a 3-1 lead at 3:41 of the second period on a goal by Jeff Kennedy before the Scott Patterson show started for the Cents. Patterson scored his first of the night at 14:37 of the middle frame and tied the game for Merritt just 2:16 later to make it 3-3 heading to the third. The Centennials outshot Salmon Arm 12-5 in the second and 24-13 after 40 minutes.
Derek Huisman gave Merritt the lead at 6:26 of the third period and Patterson salted the game away with his third goal of the evening into an empty net at 19:04 after an unselfish pass by Payton Schaefer. Shots in the third were 10-3 SilverBacks, but finished 27-23 Centennials overall.
Patterson, Harper, Schaefer, Diego Cuglietta, Kevin Lohan and Sean Maktaak all had assists for Merritt in the win.
Tyler Steel stopped 20 Salmon Arm shots in goal for the Centennials while Adam Clark kicked out 22 saves between the pipes for the SilverBacks.
Both teams went 0-for-3 on their respective power plays.
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 Friday, December 7 as they continue their 40th season of junior 'A' hockey at the South Okanagan Events Centre in Penticton against the Vees. Game time is 7 pm. Fans can listen to the game on Q101 FM in Merritt or watch online at FastHockey.com.
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.
