The Merritt Centennials came out of the gate strong, but faded down the stretch against the Kings who pulled away to win 6-1.
The first period saw the Cents come out with jump and both teams play with pace. Hunor Torzsok broke the deadlock with another deflection, this time on a Rylan Van Unen point shot at the 9:33 mark to make it 1-0. However, the Kings answered under a minute later as Captain Jack Long scored with a shot from the line that beat Marshall. Shots after 1 were 12-10 Cents.
The middle frame saw the Kings start to play with a little more compete. Nic Porchetta would score just 2 minutes in, and Brett Roloson would score on the PP to make it 3-1 Kings. The Cents had a breakaway opportunity from Rylan Van Unen and a partial breakaway chance from Christian Buono denied by Derek Krall. Shots after 2 were 25-24 Merritt.
In the third, the Kings used their special teams to get the better of the Cents scoring a goal on the poweplay and shorthanded. They would add one more at even strength for good measure for a 6-1 final. Shots were 38-34 Kings.
The Centennials weren’t able to make good on the powerplay going 0/5 on the evening.
After the game, Head Coach Derek Sweet-Coulter said the Cents weren’t willing to pay the price to score.
“There were about 7 loose pucks that were ready for the taking in the slot, but we were getting steered to the outside. We weren’t willing to battle to get to those loose pucks, and we got outworked on home ice. It was unacceptable.”
The Centennials will look to go back to the drawing board before a double header against the West Kelowna Warriors.
