West Kelowna Warriors downed by Centennials in Merritt

MERRITT – The West Kelowna Warriors were outscored by the Merritt Centennials in a 8-6 loss at the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena Saturday night, Dec. 5.

The Warriors opened the scoring with a great shot from Jonathan Desbiens at 8:20 of the first period, but the Centennials responded just 1:27 later as Zak Bowles got a favourable bounce off a skate to tie the game.

West Kelowna went up 3-1 on goals from Rylan Yaremko and Brett Mennear, each scoring their ninth of the season.

The Centennials got within one as Zack Zorn potted a puck off the end boards past Keelan Williams, but the Warriors responded to take a two-goal lead on the power play late in the frame.

Garrett Forster's point shot got through traffic and beat Cole Kehler to make it 4-2 after 20 minutes.

The scoring didn't stop there, as the Centennials scored twice in 1:37 to open the second period, as Gavin Gould made it 4-3 right before Nick Jermain scored on the power play to tie the game.

Lane Gilliss would bury a rebound for his first BCHL goal after a great shot from Reed Gunville was kicked out to Gilliss.

Merritt chased Williams with a goal at 9:05 directly off the face-off, as Brett Clark made his Warrior debut as the score was tied at 5-each.

The Centennials took the lead 5:38 into the third period as Jermain completed the hat-trick with a deflection over Clark.

West Kelowna tied the game up again at the 12:08 mark, as Liam Blackburn beat Kehler in tight.

The game winner came on a faceoff play with 3:54 remaining, as Ryan Coghlan hammered one into the Warriors net, before Henry Cleghorn sealed the game with an empty netter.

The Warriors outshot Merritt by a 38-37 margin.

West Kelowna hits the road next week to take on Alberni Valley, Nanaimo, and Victoria.