VD2, JV & C Championships!
In the Varsity D2 division, the CBC Cadets dominated in the playoffs outscoring their opponents 16-2. In the semifinals, CBC defeated the Rockwood Summit Falcons 8-0, and then awaited the winner between the Seckman Cougars and Oakville Tigers. The Tigers would upset the Cougars and advance to the championship game with a 6-1 victory.
It was all CBC in the first period of the championship game as the Cadets got goals from Jacob Taylor, Michael Kennedy, Connor McCaffry, and Karch Kraemer to give them the 4-0 lead heading into the second period.
Oakville would make a push early in the second as Chase Christopher and Adam Herrick cut the lead to 4-2. CBC responded with four unanswered goals to give the Cadets an 8-2 win and the 2019 Varsity Division 2 state championship.
Meanwhile in the Junior Varsity division, DeSmet squeaked by Holt 6-4 and Northwest advanced with an 8-4 win over Lindbergh. That set up a matchup between the DeSmet Spartans and Northwest Lions.
It was an evenly matched contest as DeSmet took the early 1-0 lead just 12 seconds in, but Northwest’s Logan Gott and Braden Wieczorek each scored to give the Lions a 2-1 advantage. The Spartans struck back with two of their own as Sam Traina and Kevin Jeffries each lit the lamp for DeSmet. The Lions responded with a late goal in the first period as Gott tied it up 3-3 heading into the second period.
The Spartans again took the lead on the powerplay, but that lead did not last long as Lions’ Drew Konieczny tied it up 4-4. DeSmet’s Jack Windler gave the Spartans a 5-4 lead at the 11:43 mark and DeSmet added an empty net tally to get the 6-4 victory and the Junior Varsity state championship.
In the C Division championship, the Francis Howell Vikings took on the Fort Zumwalt West Cougars. FZW’s Jacob Cohen scored in the first minute of play, but Howell’s Dylan Simon scored twice to give the Vikings a 2-1 lead heading into the second period.
Francis Howell got on the board again with a powerplay goal from Colton Kozma to make it a 3-1 lead for the Vikings. The Cougars’ Wolfgang Van Gels and Cohen tallied one each to tie the game up at 3-3, but at the 7:51 mark, Luke Rosko got the game winner and gave the Vikings the 2019 C Division championship.