The St. Louis U. High hockey beat Oakville twice this past week—4-1 on Thursday night at South County Recreation Center, and 3-0 Saturday at Webster Ice Arena. Bouncing back from their loss against CBC on Nov. 27, the Jr. Bills now have their first winning record of the year, even though Covid-19 has sidelined a few crucial players. Stepping up to the challenge, SLUH was led to victory by sophomore goalie Wyatt Gotschall, who is filling in for an unavailable Jake Buttice.

“It feels great. Anyone wants their chance to show off what they can do,” said Gotschall. “But I’m ready to get Jake back on the ice and get the full team back together.”

Only letting up one goal in the two games, Gotschall provided a wall in the back, and paired with strong offense, the Jr. Bills easily swept Oakville.

In the Dec. 3 game, the Jr. Bills geared up for their second game of the season. Led by early goals by freshmen Russel Caplin and senior captain Matt Warnecke, the Jr. Bills catapulted to a 2-0 lead and didn’t let up.

“It was really nice to see that we came out quickly,” said varsity head coach Steve Walters. “We challenged the guys to take pride in the crest on their jersey, and they came out and played extremely hard. Oakville couldn’t get anything done in the first period.”

 After another goal by Warnecke in the second period one from junior Ryan Spinner in the third, the Jr. Bills comfortably secured their first win of the season, 4-1. 

For the first 6 minutes of the second leg of their doubleheader against Oakville on Dec. 5, SLUH dominated possession, keeping the puck in Oakville’s zone, and using their physicality to force turnovers whenever Oakville was on offense. 

With 7:52 remaining in the first period, SLUH’s sustained pressure caused an Oakville icing, giving the Jr. Bills a faceoff in the offensive zone. They failed to convert on this chance, but only a minute later, the Jr. Bills struck first on the scoreboard. A big hit by junior Niko Nadreau on an Oakville attacker caused a turnover, allowing SLUH to go on the offensive. A Jr. Bill attacker put a backhand shot on net, and Nadreau picked up the rebound and  slotted past the goalie to give the Jr. Bills a 1-0 lead with 6:31 remaining in the first. 

“It felt great to finally accomplish a goal I have had since freshman year and to make a real impact on such a great team of players,” said Nadreau.

Only 53 seconds later, Warnecke slammed home another goal to extend the Jr. Bills’ lead to two goals. All alone just to the left of the right circle, Warnecke and beat Oakville’s goalie with a slapshot. 

With ten shots on goal in the first ten minutes, the Jr. Bills were clicking on offense and also on defense, allowing Oakville only two shots of their own. The remainder of the period was scoreless as the Jr. Bills recorded two more shots on goal, and Oakville had zero. 

With 8:48 remaining in the second period, SLUH found itself with another great scoring chance. After Oakville gave the puck up in their defensive zone, the puck found Warnecke in the circle. Making a man miss, Warnecke flung a backhanded shot towards the net, but a great save by the Oakville goalie kept the deficit to only two goals. Back and forth the rest of the period, neither team could find the net, and the Jr. Bills entered the third period with a 2-0 lead, outshooting Oakville 24-16. 

Entering the third period, the Jr Bills looked to finish strong in the last 15 minutes.

With 12:53 remaining in the game and SLUH on the power play, a sloppy turnover by SLUH gave the puck to an Oakville attacker just outside of SLUH’s blue line. Shorthanded, the Oakville player rushed on net. But Gotschall came up with a huge save, deflecting the puck out of harm's way and preserving the two-goal lead. 

“You have to be reliant on a good goaltender. Without a good goaltender, a team can’t win,” said Gotschall. “Being able to make that save I think really helped us to finish the game strong.”

“You have to be reliant on a good goaltender. Without a good goaltender, a team can’t win. Being able to make that save I think really helped us to finish the game strong.”

Gotschall

 

Only a few minutes later, the game turned a little chippy. With 9:02 left in the game, three penalties were handed out, one to a Jr. Bill and two to Oakville. Along the sideboards, Nadreau was being held by an Oakville player. Wrestling him down, Nadreau was then jumped on by another defender, and the three of them were sent to the penalty box

“Oakville started playing with frustration, their coach probably told them to be more physical, and that’s when it started to get dicey,” said Walters. “Our team was looking like they were going to go down the wrong path, but I called a timeout just to remind them that’s not how SLUH plays.”
With a man advantage for the second time in the third period, the Jr. Bills looked to seal up their victory with one more goal. SLUH was unable to cash in on their advantage, and it looked as if the Jr. Bills would secure the win with a score of 2-0. However with 3:45 minutes remaining in the game, Warnecke cashed in for the second time of the night, deflecting a shot in front of goal. This goal boosted SLUH to a three-goal advantage, one that they would keep for the rest of the game.

“It felt really good to find the back of the net. The second one was a good shot on the ice from Brock Massie and I got a stick on it and found the net,” said Warnecke. “A few more bounces our way and that’s a 7-0 game.” 

The final score was 3-0, with SLUH outshooting Oakville 37-19. After the game, the Jr. Bills swarmed Gotshcall who, after stopping 19 shots, earned his first career varsity shutout. 

“It felt great. Everyone played really well in front of me,” said Gotschall. “A good team and a good goalie gets the job done.”

“He’s calm back there. He’s not panicky,” said Walters. “It’s good to see, and really good for our club because it's hard for a sophomore to come in and be a contributor. We’re really excited about his attitude.”

Coming off their two wins, SLUH looks towards their next game on Dec. 11 at Maryville University Hockey Center. The Jr. Bills will take on Lafayette; attendance is limited to two parents per player.