The Seckman hockey team is 3-12-1 and sits in eighth place in the Suburban Conference of the Mid-States Club Hockey Association, but first-year head coach Zachary Knackstedt said the record doesn’t reflect the talent on his young team.
“Overall, I’m proud of their effort and have a positive view to the season,” said Knackstedt, who is from Affton and lives in Festus with his family. “We have a great core of kids. The compete level is there. We bring it against tough competition.”
The Suburban Conference is one of four in the MSCHA. Fox also is in the Suburban. The other team from the county, Northwest, plays in the Central. The league is nearing its three-tiered postseason playoffs with the Challenge Cup, Wickenheiser Cup and Founders Cup. It’s likely that the Jaguars, Warriors (3-11-3) and Lions (2-13-1) will compete in the Founders.
Of the 35 clubs in Mid-States, Seckman is the farthest south. Many of their players come up through the Meramec Sharks youth team. The Jaguars have about 45 players spread over varsity, JV and B teams. Knackstedt said teams like Oakville have twice as many players. He started coaching in 2004, beginning with Affton before going to Eureka. In 2010, he became a father and stepped back from coaching. He works for the Metropolitan Sewer District in St. Louis.
“I loved playing and coaching high school hockey,” he said.
After a 4-1 loss in St. Peters to Fort Zumwalt West on Jan. 4, Seckman is 0-5-1 in its last six games. West, also known as the Jaguars, is 12-2-3 and in second place in the St. Charles Division. In the game before Zumwalt West, Seckman took a 1-0 lead into the third period against Suburban-leading Parkway West (13-2-1), but the Longhorns charged back for a 3-1 victory.
Knackstedt said those two games are examples of how close his team is to competing against the best in the league.
“Finish strong and fight for 45 minutes,” he said. “We’ve had ups and downs as far as how we play and compete. We go hard against higher-skilled teams, but don’t take it like we should to the others.”
Playing behind three freshman defensemen, senior goalie Cayden Merkel is the leader of the Jaguars. Merkel has faced 491 shots in 692 minutes and has a goals-against average of 3.21. He stopped 30 of 31 shots in a 1-0 loss to Fox Dec. 21. Sophomore Payton Adams wasn’t as busy in the Warrior net, making 17 saves for the shutout.
“She was incredible,” Knackstedt said.
Two nights before playing Fox, Merkel made 32 saves in a 0-0 tie with Eureka.
“He leads by his work ethic; he sets the tone,” Knackstedt said. “He eats a lot of pucks. The last two games he’s faced upwards of 80 shots. He’s a good communicator. He leads and guides (the team) on the ice. He fights for us every game.”
Knackstedt said his defense has been solid all season. Juniors Erik Polete and Luke Whitener, sophomores Joseph Forst and Zach Koerber – an assistant captain – and freshmen Lucas Fieseler, Luke Miller and Teagan Schroeder comprise the blue line.
“The two Lukes have dressed every game and they have done a great job against the men in this league. Fieseler is one of the best overall skaters I’ve coached. Miller is tough around the net.”
The Jaguars have shuffled lines around a core of centers. Senior Sam Murphy and sophomore Cooper Townsend and junior Ethan Catarnichi, both assistant captains, are the pivots for sophomore wingers Noah Trenholm and Alex Maness. Trenholm scored two goals against Fox in a 5-2 win in the season-opener and leads the team with eight goals while Murphy is the leader in assists (seven) and points (10). Catarnichi has five goals and three assists for eight points.
Seckman plays three straight in-division games when it hosts Oakville (9-5-2) on Jan. 13 before closing out the regular season at the Webster Ice Arena against Rockwood Summit (12-4) on Jan. 21 and Jan. 25.
Whatever tier of playoffs the Jaguars end up in, Knackstedt said they’ll be ready.
“There’s no quit in our team.”
Warriors want a Wickenheiser Cup bid
When the Mid-States Club Hockey Association determines which teams will compete in its three tiers of playoff hockey, a team’s past performance and strength of schedule are recognized along with its current record.
At 3-11-3, good for seventh place in the Suburban Conference, Fox is hoping its appearance in the Challenge Cup (highest tier) in 2023 and Wickenheiser Cup (middle) last year carry enough weight to gain a return bid in the Wickenheiser. If not, the Warriors will compete in the third-level Founders Cup.
Fox has three more games to make its case for the “Wick” when it hosts division rivals Parkway South (1-14-1) tonight (Jan. 9) and Eureka (8-9-1) Jan. 20, at the Kennedy Recreation Center in south St. Louis County. The Warriors close out against Liberty (Wentzville) (6-7-2) in St. Peters Jan. 24.
“Look at the record and we’re below .500, but we knew it would be a learning, a growing year,” said James Hohmeier II, who’s been the Warriors head coach for 10 years. “Aside from the record, there’s a lot of positive things to look at. The buy-in has been good.”
All of Fox’s players have come from within the C-6 school district. Since shutting out Seckman 1-0 Dec. 21, the Warriors are 0-4-1. In Fox’s most recent game Jan. 1 at Webster Ice Arena, Rockwood Summit (12-4) got out to a 4-0 lead before Jack McCroy and Dylan Best scored the game’s final two goals for the Warriors, who were outshot by the Falcons 41-16.
Fox turned the tables in shots on goal in a 2-2 tie with Parkway Central (1-13-2) on Dec. 30 when it had 43 shots to the Colts’15. Larz McLeod scored in the first period and Zander Voss tallied a goal in the third for the Warriors. The pair assisted on each other’s goals.
Gavin Hanschmidt scored the game-winning goal against Seckman in the third period. Sophomore Payton Adams, the Warriors’ starting goalie the past two seasons, earned the win in goal, turning aside all 17 Jaguar shots. Adams has allowed 49 goals on 243 shots for a goals-against average of 4.76. Toby Heimgartner and Seth Ferbet are Adams’ backups, after she played without one last year.
“We’re trying to do a better job of lightening her workload,” Hohmeier said. “She’s a hard worker on and off the ice. She would start every single game if she could. We wanted to afford her that luxury with that help.
“Nothing seems to intimidate her. She wants to be the best. She’s always on the ice before practice and puts in that work. That helps with your confidence.”
No matter the sport, anytime Fox and Seckman meet, the energy from the playing field to the stands increases. The night before the C-6 rivals met on the ice, Seckman came to Arnold and beat the Warriors on their home court in boys and girls basketball.
“(Our) game was good to look at because you had two Suburban (Conference) public schools playing a 1-0 game where both goalies stood out,” Hohmeier said. “We both might find ourselves in the Founders Cup and a rematch could be brewing. We’re able to watch that growth, (the players) feel it, too, and that’s what’s really exciting.”
Alaina Spent, brothers Max and Shane Ferbet, Cole Kelley, Dylan Best and McCroy are Fox’s leaders on the blue line.
“(Ferbet and Kelly) are senior captains and understand the game. It will be tough to lose those guys, but they’re helping build the foundation and showing their younger teammates what it takes to be a standout defenseman.”
Hayden Cook leads the Warriors with six goals, but what the team may lack on offense, they make up for in depth with 15 players tallying goals. McCroy is second on the team in scoring with five goals and nine points.
“Our goals are spread out evenly and that’s exciting because some teams are built around one goal scorer,” Hohmeier said. “Depth shows promise and the future this club has.
“We’ve tried to mix things up, roll with punches and stay flexible. Jack and Hayden are on the top line a lot and control the game.”