Merritt Centennials win inaugural KIJHL regular season game in Quesnel

History was made at the West Fraser Centre in Quesnel on Friday night as the Merritt Centennials won their inaugural KIJHL game  2-1 over another team making its league debut the host River Rush on the opening night of the 2024-25 season.

The Centennials who joined the Kootenay International Junior A Hockey League back in March after the BCHL version of the team folded, made the long trek up Highway 97  on Friday afternoon, to open the season with a pair of games this weekend in Quesnel and Williams Lake on Saturday night.

After a lengthy pregame ceremony, it took  while for both teams to get their skating legs as turnovers, missed passes and offsides seemed to be the norm until the 5:33 when Sam Giangualano (1) chipped a rebound behind Josh Hager (L 0-1-0 ) to give the Cents an early 1-0 lead with assists going to Wyatt Ball and Merritt’s own Luke Sowpal. After the goal, both teams exchanged good scoring chances however the Cents were able to hold onto the lead heading into the intermission.

The Cents opened the second period with a brief two-man advantage and failed to score which gave Quesnel some life as they evened the score at 1-1 when Josh Greenough tipped a loose puck behind Andrew Krakora (W 1-0-0) at 3:22.

The game remained tied until the 8:03 mark of the second period when Wyatt Ball picked up his second point of the night and first goal of the season with helpers going to Maxim Radmanovich and Tyler Origitano to make it a 2-1 score where it remained for the rest of the game.

The Cents will look to make it two in a row to start the young hockey season on Saturday night as they visit the Mustangs in Williams Lake for a 7:00 p.m. contest. Catch the action with Jared Thomas and Roger White beginning with the pre-game show at 6:45.