ORIGINAL ARTICLE

The quarterfinal brackets are set for the Midstates Club Hockey Association’s Challenge Cup and Wickenheiser Cup tournaments and both tournaments will have new champions this winter.

Several lower seeded teams broke though in the Challenge Cup while top seeded teams prevailed in the Wickenheiser Cup.

Top-seeded CBC advanced to the quarterfinals in the Challenge Cup along with No. 4 Marquette, No. 7 De Smet, No. 8 Lafayette, No. 10 Priory and No. 12 Summit.

Defending back-to-back Challenge Cup champion St. Louis University High was eliminated in pool play. Lafayette, the defending Wickenheiser Cup champion, is in the Challenge Cup this year.

In the Challenge Cup, CBC meets Summit. Game 1 is at 8:25 p.m. Friday at Affton. Game 2 is set for 7 p.m. Tuesday at Webster Groves. De Smet meets Kirkwood at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Queeny and in Game 2 at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Queeny. Marquette meets Lafayette at 8:15 p.m. Friday at Queeny and then in Game 2 at 7:50 p.m. Monday at Maryville. Priory plays Vianney at 10:05 p.m. Friday at Affton and then in Game 2 at 6:30 p.m. Monday.

In pool play, CBC went 3-0. The Cadets defeated Marquette 7-1, Summit 12-2 and Chaminade 5-1. De Smet advanced by beating Francis Howell 5-0, losing 3-1 to Kirkwood but tying St. Louis University High 4-4. Lafayette moved on by beating Chaminade 2-1, Marquette 4-3 and losing 6-2 to Summit. Marquette lost to Lafayette and CBC but defeated Edwardsville 6-0. Priory tied SLHU 3-3 and then beat Francis Howell 4-3 and Kirkwood 3-0.

In the Wickenhesier Cup, two West County schools advanced. No. 5-seeded Westminster Christian Academy along with No.10 Parkway West reached the quarterfinal. Other teams playing will be No. 1 Oakville, 2 Lindbergh, No. 3 Duchesne, No. 4 Fort Zumwalt East, No. 6 Seckman and No. 9 Fox.

Westminster plays Fort Zumwalt East at 7:45 p.m. at the Rec-Plex in St. Peters with Game 2 set for 7:20 p.m. Monday at Centene. Parkway West meets Oakville at 6:20 p.m. Friday at Maryville with Game 2 scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday at South County.

In pool play, Parkway West defeated Ladue 4-2, Fort Zumwalt West 5-2 and lost 7-3 to Lindbergh. Westminster topped Clayton 7-2 and Holt 2-0 before falling 4-2 to Fort Zumwalt East.

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Westminster senior Levi Wright wasn’t sure when the puck left his stick.

With the Wildcats desperately holding onto a one-goal lead against Marquette in the final minute of the Mid-States Club Hockey Wickenheiser Cup championship game at Scottrade Center on Tuesday, Wright jumped on a loose puck deep in the Westminster zone and launched it out of trouble.

The puck got behind the Mustangs’ pinched-in defense, and bounced a couple of times before sliding into an empty net. Wright’s empty-netter with 32 seconds left clinched a 4-2 win for Westminster and the team’s second consecutive Wickenheiser Cup title.

“No words can explain it,” said Wright, the Wildcats captain who scored twice and had an assist. “I felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders and I couldn’t be more proud.”

Jeremy Regeon’s goal early in the third period broke a 2-2 tie and gave Westminster (15-9-4) its first lead of the game. Aidan Penberthy also scored and Samuel Haupfear made 23 saves.

“It’s a pretty good feeling,” Westminster coach Dean Penberthy said. “It was an up and down season. We kind of peaked at a good time when the playoffs started and rolled through it. It was a phenomenal game, both sides very two evenly matched teams. It was a great game, we just ended up on the winning side.”

Zachary Maupin and Jacob Rapp scored for Marquette (18-9-2) and Nicholas Stewart made 28 saves. It was the second trip to the Wickenheiser Cup final in three years for the Mustangs, who won it in 2016.

Marquette carried play early.

Maupin scored just 64 seconds into the game to give Marquette a 1-0 lead.

“We’ve given up early leads the past three or four games,” Dean Penberthy said. “We stressed not to panic.”

The Rapp brothers hooked up to regain the lead for the Mustangs. Justin Rapp found Jacob Rapp on a 2-on-1 and Jacob Rapp went high right corner to make it 2-1 Marquette with 7:06 left in the first.

But each time Marquette scored, Westminster answered.

Aidan Penberthy scored directly off the faceoff to tie it 1-1 at the 6:01 mark of the first.

Wright tied it 2-2, scoring on a one-timer off of a Cole McWard feed on the power play with 4:25 left in the first.

“We’re a gritty team and we never give up and we never surrender,” Wright said. “That’s how we play and that’s how we like to play.”

After a wide-open first period that featured 26 combined shots on goal, but teams stiffened defensively in a scoreless second period.

Wright nearly gave the Wildcats the lead midway through the second as his shot trickled past Stewart and slid dangerously close to the goal line, but Marquette defenseman Ethan Natzke alertly got his stick on the puck and made the save.

“Nick Stewart, my goalie, was superb,” Marquette coach Gary Tockman said. “That game could have been out of hand.”

Regeon finally broke the tie for Westminster at 3:12 of the third, taking a Michael Woll pass and going top shelf from the left circle.

“I was just trying to shoot on goal,” Regeon said. “I wasn’t trying to pick any spot. I did see the top left open so I tried to aim in that direction. I give all the credit to my teammates and Michael gave me a great pass.”

Marquette tried to make a late push and pulled Stewart for the extra attacker, before Wright’s empty-netter ended the comeback bid.

“They have three top-end players that log a lot of minutes and we didn’t forecheck enough to make them tired,” Tockman said. “They needed to be tired the last six or eight minutes of the game and they weren’t exhausted. They were tired, but they weren’t exhausted and that cost us a little bit.”