Photo Credit: Garrett James
February 19th, 2019
WEST KELOWNA B.C. – A third period collapse leads to a Merritt Centennials 4-1 victory Tuesday night.
It didn’t take long for the Centennials to show why they’re one of the hottest teams in the BCHL. The line of Nick Granowicz, Brad Cocca, and Mathieu Gosselin connected 43 seconds into the game to make it 1-0 Centennials. Less than 10 minutes later, the trio would go on the attack once again, and another shot from Granowicz would be rebounded off Connor Hopkins right to Gosselin to make it an early 2-0 lead for the Cents. The Warriors were able to answer back late on the power play with Mike Hardman receiving a sensational backhand pass from Lucas Cullen to cut the lead to one heading into the dressing room.
The second period was full of scoring chances for the Warriors but they couldn’t find a way to get the tying goal. First Chase Dubois had an open net in the slot but elected to pass the puck to Lucas Cullen who missed the pass. Then Mike Hardman was tripped up on a breakaway leading to a penalty shot. Hardman ripped a shot which would beat Centennials goaltender Austin Roden but not the crossbar keeping it a one goal game after the second period.
The Centennials would start the third period on the man advantage. After a couple key stops by Connor Hopkins the Warriors would clear and gain momentum but Austin Roden was quick to make a couple key saves for the Centennials. Then with just over 12 minutes remaining in the third the dangerous trio of Gosselin, Cocca, and Granowicz would pounce. A rush down the Warriors zone led by defenseman Mike Van Unen would create a scoring opportunity and a pass from Mathieu Gosselin behind the net to a wide open Brad Cocca to make it 3-1. The air was out of the building at that point and the Warriors would then start to lose discipline taking several penalties throughout the remainder of the game, one of them the Cents would capitalize on to make it 4-1 courtesy of Mathieu Gosselin.
Shots on goal 46-39 in favor of the Centennials.
3 Stars
- MER F Mathieu Gosselin (2G-2A)
- MER F Nick Granowicz (1G-1A)
- MER F Brad Cocca (1G-2A)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game:
WKW F Lucas Cullen (1A)
The Warriors next game is Friday night versus the Trail Smoke Eaters. Puck drop at 7:00pm from Royal LePage Place. Catch Friday’s game and every other home and away game this season on Mixlr and Hockey TV. Just head to the Warriors website and click on the “Listen Live” column to get directed to a radio feed of each game.
