Days before sporting events were put on hold in March because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Seckman junior varsity roller hockey team won five straight games to capture the preseason tournament championship in the Missouri Inline Hockey Association.
The Jaguars beat Francis Howell 5-3 in the championship game, then shut down like everyone else. The regular season had been poised to start but didn’t launch until June 29. It usually ends in May.
“Our style for the most part was a heavy forecheck, which forced turnovers, then turned into pucks in the back of their (other teams) net,” Seckman head coach Chris Winkelmann said in describing his team’s strengths during the preseason-title run.
Winkelmann said the Jaguars got a collective effort by all of the players, including excellent goaltending from Colin Sullivan, who will be a junior at Seckman next month.
“Several players made above-average contributions, not limited to, but including, Daniel Lamb, Brett Downs and Nelson Karnowski,” he said.
Karnowski, in his first year on the team, led the Jaguars in scoring for the tournament. “He had a heck of a championship game,” Winkelmann said.
Seckman has varsity and JV squads as well as three junior high teams that keep the inline hockey program replenished annually. Playing in the MOIHA Tier I for the first time in 2019, Seckman’s varsity finished third in the state.
“We’ve been in business for a long time,” Winkelmann said. “We always put out a pretty good product comparatively to the other teams in the region. Fox and Oakville have solid teams. There are several teams across the region, kind of like ice hockey. The All-American Sports Mall has a good roller program that starts at the grass roots.”
The top three players on the Jaguars’ varsity this summer were Winkelmann’s son, Parker Winkelmann, Matthew McGowan and Tyler Culleton, who all graduated this year.
“They’ve been playing (ice and roller hockey) their entire lives,” the coach said.
Beyond the senior leaders, Seckman’s varsity includes junior Hayden Berberich, sophomores Carter Ammel, Gavin Freie and Jack Knoll and eighth-grader Nick Summers. The varsity did not compete in a preseason tournament in March.
“Our varsity team this year is highly skilled and looks to make a run at the state championship (in 2020),” Chris Winkelmann said. “We have high hopes for all of our teams this year.”
Seckman’s varsity Tier 1 roller hockey team won the MOIHA state championship with a 6-5 victory over Rockwood Summit on Sunday. See next week’s Leader for more details.