Cents win streak now seven games after wins over Posse and Heat

The Merritt Centennials’ winning streak has now reached seven games after a pair of weekend wins over the Princeton Posse and Chase Heat at the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena (NVMA).

The Centennials have not lost in the 2026 calendar year, and have moved to within seven points of the Kelowna Chiefs in the race for third place in KIJHL’s Bill Ohlhausen Division.

The winning streak looked like it may be in jeopardy on Saturday as the Princeton Posse jumped out to an early 4-0 lead by the 8:10 mark of the first period, with Carson Hebert scoring two goals (22,23), Merritt-born Jalen McRae (9), and Justice Loewen (21) each chipping in with singles. However, the rocky start did not seem to faze the Cents’ brass or fans, according to Vice-President of Operations Dan Schofield.

“I was in the stands with the fans, and there was no sense of panic after the fourth goal,” said Schofield. “Our fans know how resilient the team is and that they are not out of any game, especially when there are still fifty minutes to play.”

Merritt got on the board at 11:51 of the period when Troy Horn ripped (13) a shot past Gibson Horne to cut the lead to 4-1 heading into the first intermission.

“Troy’s (Horn) goal lifted a weight off everyone’s shoulders,” said head coach Wes McLeod.” You could feel the dynamic change on the bench as if to say, ‘ok, we got this, and in the intermission, we told the guys to just play our game.”

The tempo of the game began to swing in favor of the Centennials in the second period as they narrowed the Posse lead to 4-2 when defenseman Tyler Smith (3) scored on a wrist shot that fooled the Princeton keeper midway through the period.

“It’s nice to be able to contribute, especially in a big game like that,” Smith said following the game. “We know if we stick to the game plan, we can beat anyone on any given night.”

The third period was dominated by the home team.

Troy Horn (14) scored his second of the game at 7:09 to trim the Posse lead to 4-3, then less than three minutes later, the KIJHL’s sixth best powerplay went to work and sent the  NVMA into a frenzy when Callum MacLean scored at 9:51 tying the score at 4-4. The intensity increased with big hits and big saves from both goaltenders as the game went into overtime.

Cents goaltender Sam Saskiw was stellar for the home team. Saskiw took over from started Tyler Picha who allowed three goals on the first three shots of the game, to shut the door for Merritt and gave his team a chance to climb back into the affair.

“We have confidence in both our goalies,” McLeod added. “Tyler (Picha) had a rough night but Sam was sharp and gave us a chance to win by making some key stops in the the first and second periods.”

The overtime period was  thrilling with end to end action which included a rare penalty shot by Princeton sniper Will Bell. Bell lost control of the puck as he tried in close to deke Saskiw, negating the attempt which allowed the game to go into a shootout.

The Cents needed just two shooters in the shootout to secure the win. Noah Lawless and Troy Horn both scored on their attempts while Jace Shuttleworth and Justice Loewen were stymied by Saskiw sending Cents fans home happy with a 5-4 victory.

On Sunday the Centennials welcomed the Chase Heat to the NVMA, knowing full well that despite the Heat being in last place, they were capable of pulling off the upset as they did on Dec.19, when they edged Merritt 3-2 in a shootout.

As was the case on Saturday the Cents fell behind early on Sunday when Chase captain Malcolm Anderson opened the scoring at 3:53 with his 14 goal of the season, however the lead did not last long.

Centennials forward Kaden Wilkins (6)  tied the game less than a minute later on the powerplay at 4:34 then with time winding down in the first period, Wilkins scored what proved to be the winner at 19:02 to give the Cents a 2-1 lead.

Merritt added to the lead in the second period when defenseman Lukas Masters notched his fourth of the second to make it 3-1 then in the third, newcomer Marcus Hughes scored his first with his new team after being acquired at the trade deadline to round out the scoring, making the final 4-1.

Sam Saskiw picked up another win giving him  a team high 11 wins this season.

The Centennials return to action on Friday night, when the Sicamous Eagles come to town for a 7:00 contest at the NVMA marking the fourth game this month, between the two franchises. Then Saturday night, Merritt heads to Revelstoke to face the Grizzlies at 7:00 at the Revelstoke Forum.