Photo by Rich Ulreich, STLhighschoolsports.com

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

ST. PETERS • Last week the CBC hockey team got a reality check in a loss to conference rival Chaminade.

Since then, the Cadets, the four-time defending MSCHA champions, have been serving notice that they aren’t ready to relinquish their stranglehold on the championship.

In the three games since the loss, CBC has gone 3-0 and has outscored its opponents 24-1.

The Cadets keep the roll going with a 9-0 win over Francis Howell on Friday at the Rec-Plex in St. Peters.

“It was a good wake-up call for us,” CBC forward Riley Howse said. “We worked hard, played hard, made good passes and made good plays and we have to take this intensity into the playoffs.”

Howse got the hat trick for CBC (16-3-2), one night after Michael Deeba did the same thing in a win over Edwardsville. Jack Ritter and Drake Nickolaison each scored twice.

James Randazzo had a goal and an assist and Thomas Ramer also scored for the Cadets, who have won seven of their last eight. Ryan Yaeger made seven saves while earning his second shutout of the season.

“I thought last night against Edwardsville we played three very good periods against a good team and tonight I thought the first period was a good game, both teams were playing hard,” CBC coach John Jost said. “I think in the second period the game kind of got away from them. Our depth wore them down. We were able to use our fourth line.”

Howse got CBC rolling with a power play goal just 3 minutes, 37 seconds into the game.

Ramer scored six seconds later as the Cadets had a 17-4 shots advantage against Howell (13-8) in the first period.

CBC turned it up to an even higher level in the second period, outshooting the Vikings 20-2 and scoring seven more times to break it open.

Nickolaison opened the scoring at the 1:06 mark and Ritter made it 4-0 just 31 seconds later.

Howse broke it open with a pair of goals in a 29-second span. He scored his second goal of the game on a rebound at 3:09 and completed the hat trick with his ninth of the season seconds later.

“His skating is what really to me sets him above a lot of players,” Jost said of Howse. “He’s fast, he’s a strong skater and now he’s got a real good release on his shot. He gets himself into open spaces and he’s a finisher.”

Though seldom tested, Yaeger was up to the challenge when called upon. The sophomore stopped Howell’s Isaac Dill on quality chances in the first and third periods.

“We weren’t happy in the first period when we gave up a breakaway when it was 2-0, fumbled the puck in the neutral zone and Yeager made a couple good saves,” Jost said. “The game could have been a lot closer early. Defensively, after that, I think we settled down.”

CBC seems to be clicking on all cylinders heading into the playoffs next week. The Cadets expect to earn one of the top seeds in the Challenge Cup when pairings are announced this weekend.

“We have to work hard throughout the playoffs and just keep up what we’re doing,” Howse said.

Jost believes there is still room for improvement.

“We stumbled last week, we know that,” Jost said. “I think we’ve played two pretty good games here. I think we’re going in the right direction, but we know when the playoffs start next weekend it’s a whole new season. We’ve been through this a long time and we know we’ve got to turn it up even another notch.”