The Merritt Centennials came up just short of a comeback in a high-flying contest with the Prince George Spruce Kings on Monday.
The matchup at the Chilliwack Coliseum pod arena started off at a slow pace, before Prince George’s Kolton Cousins beat Merritt goaltender Josh Dias with 23 seconds to go in the first frame.
The Cents rebounded quickly, with second-year Cent Wyatt Marlow notching his first of the 2021 season with less than a second left on the clock.
The second period was all Spruce Kings, as out of 17 shots on Dias’ net, Andrew Seaman found twine twice, with Nick Rheaume adding another for a 4-1 Prince George lead.
Merritt pressed hard in the third period, taking advantage of a trio of Prince George penalties in the final ten minutes of play.
Matteo Pecchia scored his third of the year to make it a two-goal game, capitalizing on his own rebound. Josh Olson then made it a one-goal game with under five minutes to go with his third of the year, though it would be as close as the Cents would come in a 4-3 loss.
“We have some stuff we need to improve on and can show the kids where they’ve gone wrong from this game, but we also have a lot of tape we can show them on how they were playing right and what was working from late in the game,” said Head Coach Derek Sweet-Coulter after the game.
Marlow earned the third star of the game for his efforts.
The loss is the latest in a current three-game losing streak, having been shutout by Prince George earlier this week followed by a 4-1 loss to the Chilliwack Chiefs.
Despite two of Chilliwack’s three losses coming at the hands of the Cents, Chilliwack remains at the top of the three-team pod division with Merritt at the bottom, who holds onto a 2-8-0 record.
A matchup with the Chiefs is next on the docket Friday afternoon at 5p.m.
