ST. PETERS • The Fort Zumwalt West Mid-States Club Hockey Association (MSCHA) squad has had a number on its Fort Zumwalt North counterparts.
Literally, the number is 4-1.
For the third time this season and second in two nights, No. 2 seed Zumwalt West won by the three-goal margin. This time, it came at the Rec Plex to eliminate No. 15 seed Zumwalt North in the first round of the Wickenheiser Cup playoffs.
"This one felt good," Zumwalt West forward Mitch Null said. "Last night, we got off to a bad start, so it felt good to (go up early)."
Just over 10 minutes into the game, Zumwalt West broke the ice.
Null knocked a shot in past Zumwalt North goaltender Zachary Gorman with 4 minutes 48 seconds left in the first period.
Logan Brown and Brett Duzan earned assists on the goal.
"One of our main talking points before the game was that we felt like they couldn't keep up with us," Zumwalt West coach Kevin Downes said. "We felt that if we could pressure them, they would make mistakes."
But that would be all Zumwalt West (14-9) would get in the first 15 minutes.
That was in spite of the Jaguars outshooting North 12-4 in the period.
"We put a lot of pucks on the net," Downes said. "We just don't put a whole lot of them in; that's why we've got to keep shooting."
In the second period, Zumwalt West scored two goals to make it a three-goal lead.
With 6:56 left in the period, Dillan Timme set up Matthew Faulkner to make it 2-0 and Brown, set up by Null, slotted a shot past Gorman.
"My teammate got me the puck and I was just in good position," Brown said. "It felt great to score."
Zumwalt North (6-12-5) avoided the shutout late in the second period when Matt Miller pounced on a loose puck to jam it by Matt Huntebrinker, making it 3-1.
While the goal was nice, it didn't mean much to Miller in the grand scheme of things.
"They are a good team," said Miller of Zumwalt West. "They got some lucky bounces, but that happens (for a good team)."
Brown added a power play goal at 1:39 in the third period, and West had its 4-1 win.
Zumwalt West outshot North 26-16.
The win means that Zumwalt West will next play No. 7 seeded Whitfield in the Wickenheiser Cup quarterfinal round this week. Whitfield (16-7) knocked off Parkway South 3-1 Saturday to clinch its first-round series two games to none.
"I think we're playing pretty well," Duzan said. "We need to go out and play our best. We want to keep playing and it will take hard work to do that."
In other games Saturday:
Duchesne 1, Francis Howell 0 • Duchesne defeated Francis Howell in a mini-game to take the teams' Wickenheiser Cup series after Howell evened the series with a 6-2 win.
The mini-game was scoreless until just 9.6 seconds remained on the clock. That's when Duchesne's Steven Kinnison buried the game-winning shot.
"It really was a storybook-type of ending," Duchesne coach Dan Rupp said. "It felt very storybookish. We felt we had a chance the entire time. We told the kids that if we played like we felt we were capable, we could win."
Duchesne, the No. 11 seed, fresh off its upset of the No. 6-seeded Vikings, will face another tough team in the quarterfinal round. That teamc could win up being Howell Central.
"Howell Central is a very good team, but we feel we match-up well if it comes to that," Rupp said. "We tied them earlier this year and that was the first point a Duchesne team had ever taken from a Howell Central squad."
Lutheran South 9, Parkway North 1 • Also in Wick Cup play, No. 1 seed Lutheran South ousted Parkway North.
St. Mary's 9, St. Charles West 4 • St. Mary's opened up a one game to none lead over St. Charles West with a win in their Founder's Cup series.
