Chimienti Backstops Centennial Win:

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Chimienti backstops Centennial win

by Don Klepp | Added 2012-01-08

Kirby Halcrow also had a strong game.

Lino Chimienti was good and he was lucky as he led the Merritt Centennials to a 3-1 road win on Saturday.

The 20-year-old from Laval, Quebec held his team in the game during the opening 12 minutes of the game when the Vipers set up camp in the Merritt zone. Most of his 13 saves in the first period came during that stretch.

However, the Centennial skaters worked their way back into the game with their trademark hustle and opened the scoring at 12:00 when Armstrong’s Dylan Chanter converted a Brandon Bruce centering feed.

The Vipers responded with some energy of their own. Following the example of their captain, Patrick McGillis, they pounded the Cents with punishing hits. McGillis returned to action after missing 29 games with an ankle injury.

McGillis was instrumental in the Vipers’ lone goal, scored on the power play at 10:18 of the second period. He dug the puck out of the right corner and dished to Dylan Walchuk, who zipped a cross crease pass to Colton Sparrow for an uncontested deflection to the top corner.

That goal brought the score to 2-1. Earlier in the period, the Centennials had taken a two-goal lead on Brendan Lamont’s second goal of the season. Lamont and Regan Soquila outworked two Vipers during a standoff at the Viper blue line. They then broke into the Viper zone with one man back and Lamont hustled to the net for a tip in.

The Vipers twice came within a whisker of tying the score. Late in the second period, Patrick McGillis broke in from the right wing and beat Chimienti with a snap shot that rang off the cross bar.

Ryan Renz hit Chimienti’s right post midway through the third period, one of several gilt-edged chances that the Vipers nearly converted. Chimienti made several good stops on deflections and bang-bang plays and saw other shots skim by his posts.

Regan Soquila’s empty netter at 19:29 capped a frustrating evening for the Vipers, who out shot, out chanced, and out hit the Centennials. However, the Cents’ work ethic clearly earned the victory as they played a textbook road game.

The two teams will resume their rivalry in Merritt next Friday.

After the game, the injured Ben Gamache asked Viper fans for their continued support. "Every Viper believes that we can turn this streak around and make a run for the playoffs. The fans are great here, and we really value their support. We want to win for them, and we will!"