Cents finish road trip with win and loss this weekend

The Merritt Centennials wrapped up a four-game road trip last week by splitting a pair of weekend games in KIJHL action.

The road trip began on Jan. 31 when the Cents lost 4-3 to the Revelstoke Grizzlies, snapping Merritt’s eight-game winning streak.

On Tuesday night, the Centennials travelled to Princeton to face the Posse, looking for their third consecutive win over their division rival. However, the Posse offense scored five consecutive goals on route to an 8-3 win over the Cents.

Merritt head coach Wes McLeod said his team was in it until the Posse offense took over late in the second period.

“I thought we competed hard in Princeton even though we were without several of our regulars in the line-up,” said McLeod. “Princeton is always a tough barn to play in, but we have to put the loss behind us and get ready for Friday night.”

Troy Horn was not in the lineup on Tuesday as he was serving his one-game suspension for kneeing he received after Saturday’s game in Revelstoke. The Cents also had leading scorer Noah Lawless scratched from the lineup as he was suffering from a bug that had been bothering the team for much of the week.

On Friday night, the Cents returned to the Princeton & District Arena and got a 36-save performance from goalie Tyler Picha as the Centennials downed the Posse 3-1.

Merritt finished up the road trip on Saturday in Kamloops against a Storm team that was on the verge of capturing their first Doug Birks Division crown. As was the case on Tuesday in Princeton, the Centennials kept the game close; however, three unanswered goals in the final 22 minutes gave the Storm a 5-2 win and the number one seed in their division.

The Centennials remain in 4th place in the Bill Ohlhausen Division of the KIJHL with 46 points (38-21-13-2-2). Merritt has an outside shot at third spot in the division, but they will require a lot of help and will have to run the table with victories the rest of the season.

Merritt trails the Kelowna Chiefs by six points in the division, with both teams having six games left in the regular season, including a huge game with the Chiefs on Feb. 27 at the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena (NVMA).

The Centennials return to the NVMA on Friday night when the Neil Murdoch Division leading Beaver Valley Nighthawks come to town for a 7:00 p.m. contest. Then Saturday Merritt wraps up its regular season series with the Grizzlies in Revelstoke with a 7:00 p.m. start.

Jared Thomas will have both games for you on Super Save Gas Centennials Hockey beginning Friday night at 6:45 p.m.