Merritt Centennials begin five game road trip with back to back weekend losses

The Merritt Centennials (23-11-11-1) have now lost three in a row after back-to-back losses to kick off a five-game road trip over the weekend in KIJHL action.

On Friday night, Ethan Cerone (13) scored 25 seconds into overtime to give the Columbia Valley Rockies ( 22-7-13-2 ) a 3-2 win over the Centennials. Troy Horn (8)  and Marshall Wagner (4) scored for the Cents, who were 0-3 on the power play while the Rockies were 2-7 with the man advantage. Centennial’s goalie, Sam Saskiw( 7-6-0 3.77 GAA), was brilliant, stopping 30 of the 33 shots he faced in a losing effort.

Then on Saturday night, despite a four-goal first period, the Golden Rockets had to hold off a late-game Centennials surge, posting a 6-5 win.

The Rockets lead 4-1 after one period; however, the never-say-die Centennials rallied in the second period to tie the game at 4-4.

Jackson Roberts had two goals and an assist to lead the Golden attack, while Steven Foster (15,16) scored twice for Merritt, and Noah Lawless (14)  and Callum MacLean (8) chipped in with singles for Merritt, who see action again on Friday when they travel to Princeton to face their divisional rival, the Posse, at the Princeton & District Arena. It will mark the second time the Posse and Cents collide this season. On Oct. 24, the Posse downed the Cents 5-2 at the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena (NVMA).

Merritt wraps up their five-game road trip with stops in Princeton (Dec. 12), Kelowna (Dec 13), and Chase (Dec 19). The Centennials return home to NVMA on Saturday, Dec. 20, when they host the Kelowna Chiefs in their last game before the KIJHL’s Christmas break.

Jared Thomas will have all the action for you this weekend on Super Save Gas Cents hockey on Q101 beginning Friday at 6:45 p.m.