Visiting Cents edge West Kelowna Warriors

WEST KELOWNA – The Merritt Centennials continue to have the West Kelowna Warriors number this season.

The Centennials got a goal from defenceman Shane Poulsen at 4:01 of double overtime in a 4-3 win over the Warriors Friday at Royal LePage Place.

The Warriors have dropped all four meeting with the Centennials this season, three in overtime plus a 2-1 loss on home ice in early October.

Poulson's game winner on a breakaway during the three-on-three overtime period came seconds after Jonathan Desbiens shot wide on a breakaway of his own.

Earlier in the second overtime defenceman Nick Rutigliano was stopped on a breakaway following a picture perfect pass from Jordan Masters who returned to the line-up after missing eight games with an injury.

The Warriors jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the opening period on goals from Rylan Yaremko and Andrew Johnson.

Yaremko's first BCHL goal came on a wrist shot from 15 feet out. Johnson made it 2-0 two minutes later when he beat Anthony Pupplo five-hole on a partial break down the left wing.

The Warriors had chances to increase the lead but Liam Blackburn and Masters both had shots ring off the goal post.

The Centennials took the game over in the second period and, if not for the spectacular netminding of Scott Patton, could easily have gone up four or five.

Diego Cuglietta cut the deficit in half midway through the second on a Merritt power-play then Daniel Nachbaur evened it on a shorthanded breakaway 29 seconds into the third.

Merritt took its first lead of the game midway through the third on another power-play before Jason Cotton evened the score on a Warriors power-play with 1:43 remaining in regulation time.

Both teams had a chance to end it with power-play chances in the four-on-four overtime period, however neither was able to find the back of the net until Poulsen's game winner in the dying moments.

The Warriors dominated the season series with the Centennials the past two seasons, going 13-0-1-1, but this season, those roles have been completely reversed.

The Warriors will host the Victoria Grizzlies Saturday at Royal LePage Place.

The Grizzlies will be in a snarly mood after losing 10-4 in Trail Friday to open their three game Interior road trip.

While the Warriors have now lost two in a row in overtime they have also managed to pick up points in 10 straight games (6-0-4-0).

The single point keeps the Warriors in second spot in the Interior Division three points better than Vernon and Merritt.