It took a big, physical opponent and some bruising collisions all over the rink to spell the end of Northwest hockey’s four-game winning streak.
The Lions, poised to reach the .500 mark on the season, hosted St. Mary’s on Friday at the Fenton Forum and had leads of 1-0 and 2-1 in the first period. But it was mostly downhill after that as the Dragons’ size and skill simply wore down Northwest in a 5-3 St. Mary’s victory in a Mid-States Club Hockey Association contest.
“It’s always physical against that team, and they’re a good team,” Northwest head coach Ziggy Ziegler said of the victors. “St. Mary’s is always solid; last time we played them we lost by a goal. It’s always competitive. I’m good friends with the coaches over there, and the players.
“It’s a little rivalry game but it’s a fun game.”
Most of the fun for Ziegler’s crew came in the first period as Northwest took a 1-0 lead less than five minutes into the action on a power-play goal by junior Theodore Henry Oar that was assisted by junior Simon Duda. The Dragons’ Ben Murkowski tied it 1-1 about one minute later, with the assist by Michael Parks.
With less than two minutes remaining in the period and the Dragons on a power play, Lions junior forward Ryan Lindsey broke loose on the left wing and fired in a shorthanded goal to put his team back on top 2-1.
The second period featured only one goal, an equalizer by Parks on a power play, but referee Mike Oliva doled out eight penalties as both teams ramped up their aggressiveness. Even the goalies weren’t spared as both Clayton Davis for the Lions and St. Mary’s Dalton Bruce crumpled to the ice after collisions in the crease, but stayed in the game.
The intensity peaked near the end of the second period after a nasty stick-hit on a Lion player sent the Northwest coaches into a verbal tirade, resulting in Ziegler’s ejection from the game.
“First time in nine years,” Ziegler said of getting tossed. “Their guy came in with his stick high and ripped up (our player’s) cage. There was no call. It was going on for the first two periods and I just said, ‘Enough’ and stood up for the team.”
An even-strength goal by Dameon Willis, assisted by Parks and Brady Schlereth, put St. Mary’s up 3-2 only 39 seconds into the last period. But 4:14 later, Lion sophomore forward Samuel Lato flew up the right wing past the Dragon defensemen and poked in a game-tying goal to keep Northwest in it.
The Dragons’ Jake Kram flicked in a wrist shot from the left wing for what proved to be the game-winning goal, and 2:20 later Parks launched one from the same spot for an insurance tally. St. Mary’s outshot the Lions 34-27; both teams were whistled for seven penalties.
Northwest, which came in with four consecutive wins (over Webster Groves, John Burroughs, Lutheran South and Whitfield), slipped to 5-7-2 overall and 5-6-1 in the Central Conference. With 12 points, the Lions remained in fifth place in the nine-team conference. St. Mary’s (11-7-1 overall) moved up to second place with 23 points on a 9-6-1 conference mark. Priory (14-1, 12-1) leads the conference with 28 points.
“We moved the puck very well,” Ziegler said. “We were breaking out really good. We’re just not making quicker decisions.”
They got drawn into a physical contest, he added, and that’s not their style.
“We play down to teams like (St. Mary’s) because they’re physical, so we want to play physical,” he said. “(But) that’s not how we’ve been playing.”
Flirting with the .500 mark, however, is a notable accomplishment for a team only two years removed from a winless 2015-2016 campaign. And the Lions are doing it with only four seniors on their 22-player roster.
“This core group, they’re all young, with freshmen (three), sophomores (six) and a lot of juniors (nine),” Ziegler noted. “They’ve been playing together long enough that they’re starting to mesh and click. It’s helping us for the rest of this season and next year (too).”
Northwest visits Wentzville Holt (3-13-1) Friday.