ORIGINAL ARTICLE

WEBSTER GROVES — Vianney's Boccardi brothers will get at least a couple of more games together on the ice.

Joey Boccardi, a senior, had two goals and three assists and sophomore Gianluca Boccardi provided one goal and one assist Tuesday as Vianney beat Francis Howell 8-1 in a Mid-States Club Hockey Association Challenge Cup preliminary round game at Webster Ice Rink.

“Obviously we want to get to state this year,” Joey Boccardi said. “We haven’t made it there yet, but it’s cool to be playing with my brother and it’s cool that he’s helping me out on the ice.”

Vianney (16-7-1) needed a win or a tie against Francis Howell to advance to the quarterfinals. Francis Howell (15-8-1) needed a win to advance.

It was the first game between the teams since 2005, which Vianney also won.

The Golden Griffins advanced to face Priory (19-3-2) in a quarterfinal series that begins Friday. 

“All through grade school I’ve thought about playing with my brother,” Gianluca Boccardi said. “Now that I’ve had the chance it’s been a lot of fun.”

Timothy Pazdernik scored twice and had an assist, Alex Fendler scored and had an assist and Joseph Schulze and Cameron Beck also scored for Vianney. Nicholas Niemeier made 16 saves.

Ethan Ormson scored and Stephen Tiemeyer made 29 saves for Francis Howell, which was outscored 17-4 while posting an 0-3 record in the preliminary round. Francis Howell coach Larry Bumb said his team was in the Challenge Cup bracket for the first time in 10 seasons. 

Schulze gave Vianney a 1-0 lead as his quick wrister from the right circle snuck inside the near post with 14.2 seconds left in the first.

Schulze almost doubled the lead at the first period buzzer as his blast from the point found the back of the net, but after a discussion referees ruled the puck crossed the goal line after the buzzer.

“I thought we caught a break right at the buzzer,” Bumb said. “I thought that goal could have gone either way and I thought that would boost us up not going down 2-0. It just didn’t seem to happen. It took a lot of out of us giving up that late goal.”

Vianney carried the momentum of the late goal in the first round into the second, taking a 4-0 lead at the 5:36 mark before Ormson gave Howell some life by capitalizing on a breakaway with 5:43 left in the second to cut the deficit to 4-1. The break was created by an Isaac Poisson pass.

The Vikings had a chance to build on the goal with a power play a minute later, but Joey Boccardi’s short-handed goal with 3:43 left restored Vianney’s four-goal lead and tilted the ice back to the Griffin’s favor.

“They are just good, hard-working and Vianney guys all the way through,” Vianney coach Brian McGlynn said of the Boccardi brothers. “They pretty much ooze Vianney.”