Merritt pounces in pairs to hand Warriors defeat

The quick-strike offence of the Merritt Centennials was too much for the West Kelowna Warriors to overcome.

Zach Risteau scored twice, Zach Court added three assists and the Cents had a trio of quick two-goal outbursts to double the Warriors 6-3 Saturday at Royal LePage Place.

Bradley Cocca, Rylan Van Unen, Tyrell Buckley and Brendan Schneider also scored for the Centennials (19-24-4-1), who outscored the home team 2-1 in each of the three periods.

Chase Dubois had a goal and a helpers and Ryan Steele and RJ Murphy also clicked for the Warriors (2424-1-1), who stayed in fifth place in the Interior Division, two points ahead of the Salmon Arm Silverbacks and seven ahead of last-place Merritt.

Jacob Berger made 33 saves for the Cents and Cole Demers stopped 21 shots for the Warriors.

The Warriors started the game with a pair of power plays but were unable to strike on the man advantage.

It proved costly as the Cents got goals from Van Unen and Risteau in a 51-second span at the 12-minute mark.

Murphy beat Berger through the five hole on a breakaway for his 19th goal of the season (and sixth in the last four games) to make it 2-1 after 20 minutes.

But Risteau and Buckley had a rapid response for the visitors early in the second, scoring in a 60-second span to make it 4-1. Dubois potted his second on a nice pass from behind the net by Steele to slice the deficit to 4-2 after 40 minutes. Steele made it 4-3 just 1:35 into third, backhanding home a feed from Dubois.

The Warriors had two more power play chances and Dubois hit a post in a bid to tie the game.

Merritt again had the answer as Cocca scored at 7:53 and Schneider made it 6-3 just 64 seconds later to put the game to bed.

Special teams were an issue for the Warriors, who failed on six power plays and surrendered two goals on Merritt man advantages. Risteau, Buckley and Dubois were the three stars. The Warriors host the Surrey Eagles (24-18-2-5) Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Royal LePage Place. It’s another night of half-price beer and 25 cent chicken wings. Tickets are available online at wkw.goticketpro.com, at the Warriors office, by calling (250) 769-7051 or at the box office one hour prior to the opening face-off.