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Fast start propels Lafayette past Fort Zumwalt South

By By Joe Harris | Special to STLhighschoolsports.com, 02/04/19, 11:00PM CST

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BALLWIN • The Lafayette hockey team wasn’t going to leave anything to chance.

With two wins already under their belt in Division C pool play of the Wickenheiser Cup preliminary round, the Lancers were virtually assured of advancing to the quarterfinals with a win over Fort Zumwalt South at the Queeny Ice Rink on Monday.

Lafayette, the No. 3 seed in the Wickenheiser Cup playoffs, was ready from the opening faceoff, scoring on their first two shots, en route to a 4-2 win.

The Lancers officially punched their ticket to the quarterfinals with the win. 

Davis Rigg scored twice while Colin Stewart and Chase Morgan each added a goal for Lafayette (12-7-2). James Vermeersch had two assists and Calvin Rogers made 16 saves for the Lancers.

“We just need to keep doing what we’re doing,” Davis said. “Right now we’re more together than we’ve ever been as a team. Everybody is sticking together in warm-ups and trying to pump everyone up in the school. It’s just positive energy.”

Randall Greene and Sam Watson scored for South (9-12-1). Kory Strickland made 16 saves for the Bulldogs.

Lafayette needed just 92 seconds to take a 2-0 lead on unassisted goals from Rigg and Stewart. Rigg scored from a sharp angle and Stewart got behind the defense for a breakaway.

“I didn’t even know it went in at first,” Rigg said. “I couldn’t even see the puck. It was probably one of my best goals of the year.”

Morgan’s shot from between the circles found its way through traffic to give the Lancers a power play goal and a 3-0 lead midway through the first.

“You hope you come out and get the first one and get the jump on the other team,” Lafayette coach Jim Carrico said. “It makes it a lot easier to continue the game when you get those first two goals.”

Moments after a sprawling Strickland save to stop Lafayette’s Grant Robinson on a breakaway, South capitalized on the counter attack as Brennan Cornell found Greene for the Bulldogs’ first goal with 3:18 left in the opening period.

Watson got South back in it with a perfectly placed wrister that clanged off the short-side post and in to cut the deficit to 3-2 with 9:00 left in the second period.

Lafayette answered 44 seconds later with Davis’ second of the game. Vermeersch and Patrick Johnson got the assists.

“They’re on their back foot the whole game,” Rigg said. “Even when they scored those two goals I felt like we were always ahead of them.”

Lafayette may have advanced to the quarterfinals, but that is far from its goal.

“We have not accomplished anything yet,” Carrico said. “Our goal is to make it down to the Enterprise Center and play in the championship game. You know the cliché, we’re taking it one game at a time and the boys are buying in.”

South fell to 1-1 in pool play, setting up a win and advance scenario against Francis Howell Central on Tuesday night.

“I would love to have gone into tomorrow night without as much stress,” South coach Jeff Wear said. “But we haven’t done anything easy all year. Hopefully we’ll be a little less comfortable. Maybe we’ll play with a lot more urgency.”