Going into Christmas Break, the St. Louis U. High Hockey team knew they had their work cut out for them. With five of their next seven games being against the top four teams from the area, SLUH has seen up and down results over the stretch with three blowout wins, two ties, and one close loss to rival De Smet. 

The stretch did not start out fondly for the team as they faced off against CBC (14-0-3) for the second time in the season. Their first matchup saw the Jr. Bills fall 4-2 in a close game with the Cadets scoring a last minute goal on an open net. SLUH has not squashed the giants of CBC in four years now and their most recent game followed that trend. 

The first period saw the Cadets dominate pressure and pace of play, as they outshot the Jr. Bills 12-5 and scored twice near the end of the period. Even with a powerplay opportunity, SLUH could not capitalize. 

The beginning of the second period followed the same trend as CBC continued to attack the net, scoring once early in the second and then later in the tenth minute. With the game starting to get ugly, junior Daniel Sendobry broke through in the twelfth minute scoring single-handedly to put SLUH within three. Only 16 seconds later, junior Dean Lyon scored right off of the faceoff with an assist by junior Logan Petalansky to pull SLUH within striking distance with one period remaining. 

The third period did not start the way SLUH hoped. With an early penalty, the Jr. Bills were down from the start and in need of a big spark. This spark would not come unfortunately as SLUH fell 5-2 to CBC with the Cadets scoring again near the end of the third on an empty net and SLUH picked up their second straight loss to the Cadets.

“It felt like we took a step back from previous games as a team,” said senior goaltender Maksim Bely. “Instead of playing as a team, we went back to playing as individuals.”

“Against a team like CBC we just need to make less mistakes than them and we haven’t done that yet,” said Walters, the varsity head coach. “They’ve definitely proven that they are the team to beat.”

Six days later, SLUH faced up against Francis Howell (13-1-1) who sat at second in the Municipal Conference. The game started out in the Jr. Bills’ favor as sophomore Patrick Vogl broke through in the sixth minute with a goal assisted by fellow sophomore Kai Duncan. 

The Vikings struck back four minutes later with a goal of their own to tie the game. 

The second period saw a variety of chances for the Jr. Bills but they were unable to break through and even conceded a goal late. The third period saw a repeat of the first as SLUH started off hot with a second goal and subsequent assist by the Vogl-Duncan pairing. The game ended in a 2-2 draw with SLUH outshooting their opponent 26-19. 

The next three games saw SLUH face off against a series of weaker opponents. Against Rockwood Summit (5-9-2), the Jr. Bills took home a 7-1 blowout victory with a hat trick from Vogl and goals from Lyon, senior Billy Wagner, junior Finn Barry, and junior Henry Unger. SLUH completely obliterated the Falcons, outshooting them 48-13 and dominating the pace of play throughout. 

Next up was the Kirkwood Pioneers (10-4-2) who, while sitting at third in the standings, were also beaten badly by the Jr. Bills 6-0. Even though the Jr. Bills were outshot 19-17, Kirkwood's goalie struggled mightily in net with a .640 save percentage as SLUH pounded the Pioneers on route to a blowout win. Sendobry had a pair of goals with Barry, Vogl, Petlansky, and Duncan all scoring once. 

Next up was Oakville (6-6-4) who also struggled mightily against the Jr. Bills. Their defense faltered early as SLUH dominated, outshooting them 34-17 with goals from Wagner, Duncan, Vogl, Lyon, junior Hank Fusco, and sophomore George Lyons. 

Over this stretch and the first half of the season, the Jr. Bills have held one of the best defensive units in the entire area. From the tandem pair of the Bely brothers in net, to seasoned senior defenders shutting down opposing offenses, the team has found its identity on the defensive side of the ice.

“Since the beginning of the season we’ve held a very solid defensive line,” said Walter. “We have some very strong defensive forwards and Luke Gund always holds down our side of the ice.”

SLUH’s next performance saw them faceoff against rivals De Smet (9-4-2) in a hotly contested matchup. Overall, both teams totalled more penalty minutes than there are minutes in the game with SLUH racking up 33 minutes off of 7 penalties and De Smet accounting for 48 minutes on nine. 

The game was a defensive battle from the start as both teams had a plethora of chances but no goals. The one exception came at the end of the first period as a De Smet powerplay led to the first and only goal of the game. Even with a multitude of goal scoring opportunities, SLUH failed to get one past the goalie and fell once again by a single goal to De Smet. The end of the game came with some fireworks as a brawl broke out on the ice, ending a frustrating game for the Jr. Bills.

“Against De Smet we know we have adjustments to make. We made them last year and we are going to make them again in our last matchup of the year and possibly if we meet them in the playoffs,” said Steve Walter. “While we haven’t had the result we want, we’re right there.”

Finally, SLUH faced off once again against Kirkwood (10-4-2) on New Year's Day. This matchup would pose much more challenging than their game the week before as a change in goalie meant that SLUH had to work a little harder to generate goals. SLUH struck early with a powerplay goal from Vogel a little over two minutes into the game. The Jr. Bills struck early in the second period as well with a goal only 23 seconds into the period from Unger assisted by Fusco and Bruen. 

After that early goal the momentum shifted in the Pioneers’ direction as they scored three times, all by the same player, giving them a 3-2 lead going into the waning minutes of the game. With an empty net behind them, the Jr. Bills found glory as senior Henry Serafin scored with only 4 seconds left in the game to give SLUH a 3-3 tie.

“It’s no secret that we struggled at the beginning of the season to put points on the board so we’ve been really hard on our guys to create those opportunities,” said Walters. “But there’s a point in the season where you just have to take your foot off the pedal and leave it up to them. Even with some disappointing results, I think we’ve really found our identity.”

Looking forward, SLUH has one matchup against Edwardsville (2-8-4) before a long MLK Day break. With remnants of an offensive identity found, the Jr. Bills hope to build off of their somewhat inconsistent midseason to improve in the final stretch.

“Our goal right now is just to keep improving to gain a higher seed in the playoffs,” said Walters. “When the time comes, we just need to win the games we need to win to advance. It’s as simple as that.”