The St. Louis U. High hockey team has bounced back over their last two games after an unsuccessful stretch during Thanksgiving break. The Jr. Bills got back on track with victories over conference opponents Vianney (6-2) and Marquette (2-1).

After a disappointing draw against MCC bottomfeeder Chaminade (1-10-1), SLUH looked to rebound against Vianney (2-5-1) last Saturday. The Griffins have struggled so far to pick up momentum, going 0-5 over their last five games, though they had pulled out a 0-0 tie with SLUH earlier in the season. The Jr. Bills headed into the game with the determination to play as a team instead of individually, a struggle that proved costly over Thanksgiving break.

“The team has actually gotten together and figured it out. The setback we had was in both very tight games that we lost. But we were just falling short on what we felt like was a smart effort,” said head coach Steve Walters. “We had a lot of guys that were having to do too much individual stuff. And that just makes it easier to defend for the other team and makes us have a hard time scoring because we just weren't playing as a team. Not on purpose. It just happened that way.”

The Jr. Bills started off red-hot as senior Henry Serafin took advantage one minute into the game with a thunderous goal assisted by senior Mack Eisenbeis. Less than a minute later Eisenbeis got one of his own, giving the team a 2-0 lead within two minutes of the puck drop. 

From there the game settled down, with both teams generating chances before junior Blake Geiser broke through with a goal assisted, again, by Eisenbeis. With a 3-0 lead, SLUH dominated the first period outshooting Vianney 11-5 and controlling the pace of play.

The Jr. Bills conceded a penalty early in the second period but held off the Griffins from scoring with a strong penalty kill. Vianney broke through a few minutes later finding a way to score a goal of their own with a fast paced, four-minute time period where both teams exchanged goals. Less than 40 seconds after the Griffins scored, senior captain Luke Gund sniped a shot in for the fourth SLUH goal of the night, assisted by sophomore Gavin Simon and senior Tyler Woodcock. 

About a minute later the Jr. Bills struck again with a team effort goal by senior Grant McCormick, assisted by junior Henry Unger and senior Victor Lazzaretti. Vianney responded two minutes later, scoring on a breakaway with a 1:25 left in the period to end the scoring streak between the two teams. The period ended with SLUH comfortably leading 5-2 and outshooting the Griffins 11-9 in the second period. 

The third period started off with intensity as both teams went at each other early. In desperation for control, Vianney awarded SLUH a penalty in the third minute which led to the sixth goal as Serafin racked in another one with assists from Simon and junior Dean Lyon. The Jr. Bills capped off the night four minutes later with their seventh and final goal of the night on a backhander by Geiser assisted by Serafin and senior Curtis Bruen. In the final minutes, both teams racked up a couple of penalties as the blowout loss started to settle in for the Griffins. SLUH dominated throughout, outshooting Vianney 30-18 with tremendous efficiency, achieving the goals the team had set beforehand.

“We dominated them,” said Woodcock. “They didn’t even want to be on the ice with us.”

“Our core guys really went out there and took a step up,” said Gund. “We’ve been stressing that this week because throughout SLUH Hockey history we’ve always had a core group of guys to lead the team and bring that competitive spirit. We saw that tonight and we want to continue that momentum moving forward.”

SLUH’s next matchup was against the Marquette Mustangs (7-2) who were on a six-game win streak and had allowing just three goals during that period.

The first period started out with SLUH pounding the puck into the offensive zone. Marquette was kept on their heels as the Jr. Bills racked up shot after shot. However, Marquette, a team known for their strong defense, held SLUH off despite a constant presence in their defensive zone. At the end of 15 minutes the score was still tied 0-0 but with SLUH outshooting the Mustangs 12-3. 

In the second period, the trends of the game were much the same with neither team being able to capitalize on offense for most of the playing time. However, the Jr. Bills ended the stalemate with 3 minutes left in the period when Gavin Simon found the net in the middle of traffic, assisted by Serafin. This goal gave SLUH confidence and momentum that resulted in a solo goal from junior Finn Barry goal just a minute later. The Jr. Bill's mentality of working as a team eluded the strong Mustang defense and allowed SLUH to cruise into the third period with a confident lead.

In the third period, the Jr. Bills centered their play around defending the net to hold onto their two goal lead. However, Marquette came out firing, registering several close shots to the goal and putting pressure on senior goaltender Maksim Bely. Bely held strong but couldn’t completely hold them scoreless as the Mustangs found the net with four minutes left in the period. As time dwindled, Marquette continued to fire, outshooting SLUH 9-1, but the Jr. Bill defensive line held strong until the finish for a 2-1 victory.

“We really saw improvement against Marquette, a good team, and a very good defensive team. So we really feel like we took it to them in the first and second period and we got two goals that were the kind of goals that teams want to get, which are in small tough areas,” said Walters.

“We had a lot of chances, but the puck wasn’t going our way until we found the back of the net twice at the end of the second period,” said Serafin. “We forechecked well, finished hits, and worked hard for three whole periods. We had a couple break downs, but those are just minor bumps as each win is a step towards our goal for the year.”

With momentum behind them, SLUH will look for a positive result against unbeaten CBC this Saturday at 7:50 at Affton. The Jr. Bills haven’t beaten the Cadets since New Years Day 2019 and hope to exact revenge for their loss over thanksgiving break.

After the win against Marquette, the Jr. Bills still sit at sixth place in the Municipal Conference with a record of four wins, two losses, and two ties. During next week and Christmas Break, SLUH will face a multitude of opponents highlighted by matchups against Francis Howell (10-1-0) on Dec. 16, Kirkwood (7-2-0) on Dec. 23, and a rematch against DeSmet (6-3-1) on Dec. 30. 

“We've been really building on each game the past couple of weeks and are looking to take another step forward on Saturday,” said Serafin. “The mentality and focus has changed in the locker room and you can tell on the ice. Guys are buying in and we’re finding our identity. We’re playing with pride right now and we’re going to carry that into Saturday in a huge rivalry game.”