CHESTERFIELD — The Marquette hockey team had an extra skater on the ice with it Wednesday night.

On Nov. 14, two Marquette High students were among three teenagers killed in a car crash in Ballwin. Two other Marquette students — including Andrew Vendt, a sophomore defenseman for the Mustangs — survived.

With Vendt in the stands and the others involved in the accident on their minds, Marquette played its most inspired game of the season in a 9-1 win over Rockwood School District rival Lafayette in a Mid-States Club Hockey Association Municipal Division game at Maryville University Hockey Center.

“We beat the crap out of each other for a little bit, but before that everybody came together and respected each other,” Marquette coach Gary Tockman said. “It just shows all these kids are friends. You know, you want to win a hockey game, but tonight was about something other than hockey.”

Many of the players on both teams skated during the pregame warmups with “Vendt” on the nameplate of their jerseys. Five Marquette jerseys hung next to their bench for each person involved in the accident.

“Coach Tockman and I are both on the board here at Chesterfield, so we’re around each other all the time,” said Lafayette coach Jim Carrico, who sported a sticker with a Marquette block ‘M’ surrounded by a heart on his jacket. “We always run coaching ideas by each other and so we've got a real good relationship and it was a no brainer when they asked us to do that. We were more than more than willing to help out.”

Cade Eckert had a hat trick and Ty Stultz had two goals and two assists for Marquette (2-5). Thomas Vodnansky and Ryan McDonald each had a goal and an assist and Andrew McLean and Brock Wrisberg also scored for the Mustangs.

“We're playing for something bigger than just hockey,” Eckert said. “It means more. Just like knowing that we won that game for (Vendt).”

Five Marquette jerseys were displayed Wednesday, November 24, 2021, to honor victims of a car accident involving students from the school earlier this month.
Isaac Weatherford, senior, Marquette
“That was one of the sickest goals I’ve seen,” Cole Eckert, a senior, said of his little brother Cade, a sophomore.

Cole Eckert preserved the lead with a save on a blast from Lafayette’s Alexander Schmitt with a couple minutes left in the opener.

McLean’s goal, off a rebound from an Edward Yue shot, with 11 seconds left in the first gave the Mustangs a 2-0 and a firm grasp of the momentum.

Marquette poured it on with six goals in the second period.

Vodnansky and Stultz scored 19 seconds apart to quickly extend the lead to 4-0. Cade Eckert scored two in a row and Wrisberg and McDonald continued the salvo.

“Just keeping the third guy high and just working hard, communicating,” Cade Eckert said. “They were on their heels and we just kept putting pressure on.”

Cole Eckert wasn’t tested much in the middle frame, but got his pad on a 2-on-1 rush late in the second and got help from the crossbar on another Lafayette drive seconds later.

Rick Ulreich
“This was my fourth time playing them, so I felt pretty confident coming in,” Cole Eckert said. “Just do what I normally do and just stop the puck.”

Stultz added a third period goal for Marquette, while Spencer Xu got Lafayette on the board with 5:08 left in the game.

Christopher Adams and Dane Kemp combined to make 13 saves for Lafayette (2-5).

“Marquette always plays with a lot of energy and a lot of heart, and we knew they were going to come out playing that way,” Carrico said.