Chilliwack 4 at Merritt 1
Saturday September 17, 2011
by Marc Fitzgerald
The season starts for real next Saturday for the Chilliwack Chiefs.Now they’ll have some momentum.
Trevor Hills and Alex Perron-Fontaine took advantage of a pair of bad giveaways from Centennial defenders to score just minutes apart in the second period, giving the Chiefs a two goal lead they wouldn’t relinquish in a 4-1 win Saturday.
Chilliwack had entered the night having dropped four straight, and were facing a Merritt squad that had yet to lose in the pre-season.
The Chiefs’ line of Kit Sitterley, Alex Faignon, and Spencer Graboski was effective all night long. Sitterly opened the scoring in the first period, beating Cents’ goaltender Tyler Steele with a pretty backhand deke, off a beautiful setup from Faignon.
Merritt answered back with a goal from Brandon Bruce on a 5 on 3, but that’s all Merritt could muster, as Chilliwack goaltender Bryton Udy was steady for 60 minutes.
Chilliwack took the momentum, and the lead for good when forward Trevor Hills stripped the puck from Merritt defenceman Brandon Pfeil, and snuck a wrist shot past Steel for a 2-1 lead.
Alexandre Perron-Fontaine, and Spencer Graboski would close out the scoring for the Chiefs, who will now await the Penticton Vees September 24th at the Prospera Centre.
Chilliwack 1 vs Merritt 2
Friday September 16, 2011
Prospera Centre, Chilliwack
Jakob Riechert scored twice to lead the Merritt Centennials to a 2-1 victory over the Chilliwack Chiefs Friday night in Chilliwack.
The win improved Merritt's pre season record to a perfect 5-0-0 while the Chiefs fell to 1-4-0.
Defenseman Mike Berry scored the lone Chiefs goal on the power play.
20 year old goaltender Liam Chimienti made 23 saves to pick up the win while Mitch Gillam made 24 saves for the Chiefs.
Chilliwack was 1/5 with the man advantage and a perfect 5/5 on the penalty kill.
The two teams meet again Saturday night in Merritt.
The Chiefs open the regular season on home ice versus the Penticton Vees on Saturday September 24th.
1st Period Scoring Summary
1 – Chilliwack: Mike Berry (Spencer Graboski, Josh Hansen) 17:25 PP
2nd Period Scoring Summary
2 – Merritt: Jakob Riechert (Richard Sabourin, Sean Maktaak) 15:09 ES
3rd Period Scoring Summary
3 – Merritt: Jakob Riechert (Tyler Martin) 12:45 ES
Goaltenders
Chilliwack
Mitch Gillam: 59:50
Merritt
Lino Chimienti: 60:00
Shots on Goal
Chilliwack: 6-12-6 = 24
Merritt: 9-4-13 = 26
Power Plays
Chilliwack: 1/5
Merritt: 0/5
