The Merritt Centennials were finally able to get what had eluded them for the first 3 games of the pod season, and that’s a win against the host Chilliwack Chiefs. Josh Dias played phenomenal and multiple Centennials registered firsts in the BCHL on an emotional bounce back night.
The first period was the Cents best of the pod season so far as they capitalized on their chances and struck first for the first time in the pod. Brandon Dent and Walker Erickson executed a beautiful give and go gaining the line, feeding to the corner, and back to the slot where Erickson finished it off with a snipe top corner. The Cents crashed and banged for their 2nd goal of the night as Josh Olson scored his first in the BCHL on a goal mouth scramble to make it a 2-0 hockey game. The Cents would carry that lead into the locker room with the shots reading 14-8 after 1. Josh Dias caught a break early and never looked back as he stymied many a Chief chances throughout the night.
In the second, the Chiefs were able to take early advantage on the powerplay with a former friend cutting the lead in half in Jackson Munro to 2-1. The Cents were able to answer with a powerplay marker of their own and it was another BCHL first as Alex Ochitwa picked up a goal on another force play to the front with fellow PG native Blake Astorino picking up his 1st BCHL point on the sequence. The Cents looked to get it across the line before it bounced back to Ochitwa who went skate to stick to a quick shot in the net to make it 3-1. Trevor Longo would again cut the Cents lead to one with a cross crease pass that was deflected in by the Cents defender to make it 3-2. However, again Merritt showed their resilience and answered quickly with Jake McLean batting in another goal mouth scramble that was started by a 1st point from defender Alek Erichuk. That would make it 4-2, but the Chiefs would not go quietly, Cameron Johnson answered with an unassisted goal to make it 4-3 heading into period 3. Shots after 2 were 26-19.
The final frame saw the Chiefs continue to press for the equalizer and it was Dias’ time to shine. Chilliwack threw 13 shots on goal to the Centennials 3, but Dias was able to stop them all including a penalty in the final two minutes that saw the Chiefs pull the goalie. Final shots were 39-22.
After the game Head Coach Derek Sweet-Coulter said it was nice to continue learning about his group.
“We are learning how to play together, we are learning how to win together, and we learned that we have a pretty resilient group here. I’m really proud of the effort they showed tonight to bounce back after some hard conversations earlier today.”
The Cents return to action on Saturday when they play ‘host’ to the Spruce Kings. Puck drop 5pm on BCHLTV.ca and Q101.ca with Jared Thomas and Michael Reeve.
