TALKING CENTS: Cents win again, improve to 3-2 in pre-season play

It was anything but pretty but the Merritt Centennials found a way to squeak out a 4-2 win over the Princeton Posse on Thursday night to wrap up the home portion of the exhibition schedule at the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena thanks in large part to goaltender Andrew Krakora.

The Centennials, hot off a 3-1 win on Tuesday night against the Kelowna Chiefs, came out flying in the opening period taking an early 1-0 lead as Owen Van Herk scored his first of the preseason at 7:09 with the assist going to Aidan Baker.  Both teams had several chances to score in the first, however solid goaltending from Krakora and Posse netminder Gibson Horne kept the score at 1-0 after the opening twenty minutes of play.

The second period was another story as the Posse fired 14 shots on goal but were unable to solve Krakora’s brilliance who made stop after amazing stop to keep the Cents up by one heading into the third period as Merritt was only able to muster three shots on goal in the second frame.

The Centennials made it 2-0 at 1:23 of the third when defenseman Sid Chadi took a pass from Aiden Baker and picked the top left hand corner from the blueline that beat Horne cleanly to give the Cents a bit of insurance, however that insurance would not last long.

The Posse came storming back after the goal with a barrage of offense which eventually paid off at Matthew Langdon cut the lead to 2-1 when he grabbed a juicy rebound in front of the Cents goal at 5:27. Three minutes later, (8:27) Princeton evened the score after a defensive miscue allowed Jonny Timmons to sneak behind both Merritt defenders and deke Andrew Krakora to tie the contest at 2-2.

Then with under a minute left in regulation and the most at the NVMA looking ahead to overtime, the Centennials Dylan Ruff picked up a loose puck off a rebound and drilled home the eventual winner at 19:36 followed sixteen seconds later by Owen Van Herk’s second of the night into an open net to secure the 4-2 victory.

The Centennials wrap up the preseason on Saturday night when they travel to Kamloops looking for their first win over Storm after two losses on home ice last weekend.

Merritt begins their first season in the KIJHL on the road next Friday Sept 20 in Quesnel, then Saturday the Cents travel to Williams Lake for a 7 p.m. game against the Mustangs.