EAST ALTON – St. Louis University High School winger Henry Wagner scored twice in his first game back from injury and the Junior Billikens had three power-play goals in their 6-1 win over Edwardsville in a Mid-States Club Hockey Association game Thursday night at the East Alton Ice Arena.
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SLUH, last year’s St. Louis Blues Challenge Cup champions, went to 9-1-1 on the season while the Tigers dropped to 2-8-1. The Junior Billikens scored the first three goals of the game and never looked back.
“Yeah, they’re a good team all the way, up and down the lineup,” said Edwardsville coach Jason Walker, “have a lot of experience. We knew what we were going to get when we came out here, and they played very well.”
The Tigers only goal came in the second period from Mitchell Oberlag on the power play, and overall, Edwardsville did play well, especially in full strength situations.
“They played well; I thought five-on-five, I thought we played really well,” Walker said. “You go short a man with a team like that, they’ll make you pay. They scored three power play goals tonight, so give them credit. Their top line was tough for us to handle tonight, but I thought, overall, the full 45 minutes, I thought we played very well.”
SLUH coach Jack Behan was very pleased with his team’s effort.
“I thought we played pretty strong all three periods,” Behan said, “and I think it was a pretty good effort just to come over here and play. It’s a tough place to play, and a good team we’re playing against, hard workers, so I’m pretty satisfied with our effort.”
Wagner’s first goal was a first-timer into the upper left corner of the goal.
“That was Henry Wagner, our captain,” Behan said. “That’s his first game that he’s played; he’s been injured. So getting him back has kind of brought us all a big lift.”
It’s a young team this season for SLUH, and they’ve been playing well together in the always-tough Municipal Division.
“We’ve had some adversity, but I think we’re responding to it well,” Behan said. “We had a very veteran team last year, we’re a very young team this year, so it’s been a learning process for some of the guys, but we’re getting there.”
The play started out pretty evenly between the two teams, as both made good defensive plays to thwart rushes up ice. The Junior Bills got the first goal at 6:28 of the first period when Gabriel Schwartz found Wagner high in the slot, and Wagner rifled the puck past Mason Young to give SLUH a 1-0 lead. Bob Lockwood also assisted on the play.
The Tigers had a chance to tie the game later on in the period, but a shot rang off the crossbar and bounced away. Late in the period, with Sam Gibbons serving a holding penalty, Wagner took a shot that was stopped by Young, but the puck dropped in front of the goal, where Patrick Simoncic was in the right place to sweep it home at 14:45 to double the SLUH to 2-0. Lockwood got his second assist of the night. It only took the Junior Billikens 35 seconds into the second period to make it 3-0 as Wagner got a pass from Schwartz, broke in and scored.
The Tigers got their only goal on a two-man advantage as Ryan Spinner was sent off for slashing, and a bench penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. Oberlag got a pass from Cam Gillen, and his shot hit off the inside of the post and went in past Brendan Rasch at 6:12 to cut the lead to 3-1. Drew LaRose also assisted.
SLUH reestablished their three-goal lead at 11:18 with Ethan Bogner off for slashing. Jack Hazelton got a pass from Alex Beville in the slot and put it past Young to make it 4-1. Late in the period, with Oberlag off for slashing, Lockwood scored at 14:19. assisted by Schwartz and Simoncic to make it 5-1 after two. The Junior Bills got their final goal at 7:09 of the third period, as Preston Johnson scored from Justin Jacoby to make the 6-1 final.
For the game, SLUH outshot the Tigers 44-14.
The Junior Bills go up against DeSmet in their annual Jesuit Cup game Friday night, and while Behan is looking ahead to that game, he also enjoys playing against the Tigers on the road.
“We always enjoy coming over here and playing a good game in front of a good crowd,” Behan said. “It’s always fun.”
The Tigers play against Oakville Saturday night at the South St. Louis County rink, then host O’Fallon next Thursday in an old rivalry from their days in the Mississippi Valley Club Hockey Association. The Panthers are playing in their first season in the MSCHA, and Walker is looking forward to the game.
“We haven’t seen O’Fallon in three years, so kind of an old rival,” Walker said. “So we’re really excited. It’s a rival for Edwardsville in every sport, and we haven’t got that in hockey the last few years, so we’re really excited to play that one.”
And after a Dec. 29 game against DeSmet, the Tigers host their third annual New Year’s Night game, this year against Francis Howell of Weldon Spring, Mo., in St. Charles County.
“We have a lot of games here coming up,” Walker said. “I know it’s Christmas break, but no break for us,” he said with a smile.
