Photo by Michael R. Gulledge, STLhighschoolsports.com

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

ST. PETERS • St. Louis U. High hockey linemates Joe Winkelmann and Henry Wagner wanted to make a statement during the team’s postseason run.

They sent their message loud and clear Saturday.

Winkelmann scored three goals and added an assist and Wagner had four assists, including helpers on all of Winkelmann’s goals, as SLUH blanked Chaminade 10-0 in Game 1 of a best-of-3 semifinal series in the Mid-States Club Hockey Association Challenge Cup playoffs at Rec-Plex.

“We’ve been playing together for three years, same line,” Winkelmann said. “That and going to school together, we’ve got a lot of chemistry. We know where each other is pretty much all the time.”

Louis Perotti had two goals, Trevor White had a goal and two assists and Gabriel Schwartz had a goal and an assist for SLUH (26-1-0).

Steven Pawlow, Justin Jacoby, and Kevin Einig also scored for the Jr. Billikens. Brendan Rasch made 15 saves while notching his first postseason shutout and his sixth overall this season.

“I think we knew it was going to be chippy so we just need to stay disciplined,” Wagner said. “I thought we did a good job of that.”

SLUH took control of the game with a dominant start to the second period. The Jr. Billikens started the frame with a 10-0 shots on goal advantage and scored on three of them.

Pawlow made it 2-0 SLUH at the 1:14 mark of the second, ripping home a perfect cross-crease feed from Patrick Simoncic into a wide open side of the net.

Jacoby gave SLUH a 3-0 lead just 52 seconds later with his first goal of the playoffs. The Jr. Billikens’ intense fore-check forced a Red Devils turnover leading to the goal.

Winkelmann’s second of the game came on a power play and gave SLUH a 4-0 lead at 4:16 of the second.

“They’re at a different level for the entire playoffs,” SLUH coach Jack Behan said of Winkelmann and Wagner. “This is a big year for them. They want to make a statement this year.”

Schwartz and White scored for SLUH in the first 62 seconds of the third period to put it out of reach.

Winkelmann’s third tally made it 7-0 at 4:14 of the third. He said he wasn’t necessarily looking for the hat trick.

“With the game at that score, just getting out there with everyone, making sure no one got hurt, no one getting any penalties that would take them out the next game,” Winkelmann said. “Just playing smart.”

SLUH carried play in the first half of the opening period, outshooting Chaminade 8-1 through the game’s first seven minutes. Hampus Blomdahl came up with several big stops to keep the Red Devils in the game during the Jr. Billikens blitz.

SLUH was able to take a 1-0 lead during the spurt on a Winkelmann goal 3 minutes, 35 seconds into the game.

Chaminade coach Kiley Hill lauded the effort of Blomdahl, who made 30 saves before being pulled with the game out of hand in the third.

“It’s unfortunate that we don’t show up to a playoff game,” Hill said. “I didn’t expect that’s what we were going to have, but that’s what we had. Hopefully it’s a wakeup call. (Blomdahl) kept us in the game early.”

SLUH improved to 5-0 against Chaminade (15-8-3) in the regular season and playoffs. The Jr. Billikens will advance to the championship game with a win in Game 2 at 6:15 p.m. March 3 at the Rec-Plex.

“We’ve just got to be relentless and keep coming at them,” Behan said. “We did a lot of little things today that helped us greatly. If we keep that same mind-frame where we’re playing unselfishly, moving the puck and having fun, I think we’ll be fine.”