The Merritt Centennials continue the preseason campaign as they hit the road today to visit the Vernon Vipers for the second half of a home at home series.
Last night the Vipers edged the Cents 3-1, with all goals coming in the third period. Both teams iced a rookie heavy lineup, but tonight will be a different story for the Cents as plenty of veterans will see time. As opposed to last night where there were only 6 veterans in the lineup, tonight there will be only 6 rookies in the lineup: Nic Granowicz and Jaydon Fetter will get their first taste of BCHL action, while Brett Roloson, Josh Van Unen, Ben Ward, and Talon Zakall will get into their second game in a row.
Mathieu Gosselin, Brad Cocca, and Brendan Schneider who developed some chemistry during main camp will get their first opportunity to test it against a higher level of competition, while Nick Wicks will center a line that saw some time in camp as well between Rylan Van Unen and Nic Granowicz. Frazer Dodd draws in again, this time between Matt Kopperud and Christian Sabin, while the youngsters will power the energy line: Brett Roloson between Josh Van Unen and Ben Ward.
The back end will see Joey Berkopec, Jackson Munro, Jaydon Fetter and Colten Gerlib all draw into the lineup and join Mike Van Unen and Talon Zakall who will play back to back. Gerlib looked impressive during camp including a 5 point night, but intrasquad and exhibition are two different beasts.
Austin Roden will make his first start of the preseason, and has looked solid throughout camp. Vincent Duplessis, who stopped all shots he faced last night, will serve as back up and may see half the game as well.
Head Coach and Joe Martin says that the young guys set the bar high last night.
“We have a couple more veterans in the lineup tonight, and their goal is to at least match the effort we saw last night.”
Puck drop is at 7pm from Kal Tire Place in Vernon, however the game will be unavailable online, follow the Vipers on twitter for up to date scoring.
