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Clippers Crash Against Cents

The Teddy Bear’s were tossed early, and the Cents didn’t look back as they continued the Clippers woes with a 5-1 victory at the NVMA.

The teams traded chances in the first before a goal mouth scramble saw the puck come to Christian Sabin who unleashed the teddy rain with a shot past Landon Pavlisin to make it 1-0. Once the ice was cleaned up, the Cents continued to push the pace. Joey Berkopec unleashed a shot from the right point that went top corner over the glove shoulder, blasting the water bottle off the netting to make it 2-0. The teams would trade a couple powerplay chances each in the first, but nothing would come of the man advantage. Austin Roden wasn’t very busy in the first stopping all 5 shots he faced.

Once again the second frame proved to be the Centennials weakest, but with that said they didn’t surrender a goal. The team did lose momentum after a series penalties for and against, much like last night and once again they couldn’t get all hands on deck. A turning point of the period came with the Cents at the end of a long shift, stuck with the energy line on, iced the puck. However, a keen move from Assistant Coach Brandon Shaw to call for the BCHL media timeout gave the guys some rest, and after winning the ensuing draw, they got a quick change, and Brad Cocca came on with fresh legs and lit the lamp on a stuff play from below the goal line. A solid performance from Austin Roden kept the Clippers at bay, and the Cents took a 3-0 lead into the third period.

In the third, the Cents continued to push the pace, as the Clippers seemed content to back off to neutral ice. Matt Kopperud scored his 15th goal of the season after a turnover at the line, poking it into the slot, and taking a shot down low that fooled Pavlisin. The Clippers would then parade to the penalty box, and at first it paid off for them. Kovich scored on a shorthanded break away, but it would be the lone blemish against Roden. However, the Cents would finally connect with a 5-on-3 and Captain Nick Wicks would do the honors sniping one top shelf blocker side. Final shots were 34-23 in favour of the Cents as they took the game 5-1.

After the game Assistant Coach Brandon Shaw said there were a few things to clean up in a strong game.

“In a game like this you can nit-pick, but there’s still some cleaner puck movement we could have out there. Overall though this was a great effort.”

Energy Player of the Game – Brendan Schneider 1A

3rd Star – Brad Cocca 1G 1A

2nd Star – Austin Roden 22/23

1st Star – Nick Wicks 1G 2A

With the win the Cents pull into a tie with the Wenatchee Wild at the top of the Interior Division. Next game day is Friday against the West Kelowna Warriors.