The Springfield Spirit went into their first tournament of the season with great opportunity. They would see different teams than they have before which makes for great competition. The Spirit made the most of their opportunity and captured the championship going a perfect 5-0 in the process.

In game 1 the Spirit ran into a familiar opponent in the Meramec Sharks. They will see each other again this season but it was the spirit coming out on top in this one. In the first period Brooks Kettering scored off a rebound to put the Spirit up 1-0, assists going to Cal Bussen and Wyatt Wirth. In the second period leading scorer Gavin Loven put Springfield up by two off a pass from Kurt Buckman. In the 3rd period Wirth took matters into his own hands and scored a nice unassisted goal for a 3-0 lead. That was all they would need as Springfield took game one. The Loven-Kettering-Wirth line continues to be a force in games. Cooper Pumphrey picks up the shutout stopping all 11 Meramec shots.

Game 2 was a battle as Springfield went up against the Chicago Bruins. In a game with a different opponent, the scoring went back and forth for a while. In the first period it was Gavin Loven putting the Spirit up 1-0 off passes from Wyatt Wirth and Cal Bussen. Chicago would answer with 1:21 to play with a goal of their own to tie the game at 1. Not to be outdone, Zahn Werner picked up the puck and went coast to coast to put the Spirit up 2-1 with 24 seconds left in the 1st period.  Early in the 2nd Chicago had another answer and scored off a net front scramble to tie the game 2-2. Again the Spirit would answer not even a minute later. Wirth found an open Loven out front and he buried it to make it 3-2 Springfield. Chrystal Gettman made it 4-2 of a pass from the fearless John Brown. It was Gettman’s second goal in her second game as a forward. Chicago pressed and would score early in the 3rd but that would be it as the Spirit tightened up the defensive zone and squeaked out a 4-3 win.

Springfield would need 1 more win to secure the #1 seed for Sunday’s semi-finals. They would run into their rival the Affton Americans. In a very physical game Affton would have their way early. In the first period it was Affton who would strike first putting Springfield on their heels. However, that wouldn’t last long as Brooks Kettering found a Will Peters rebound and tied it at 1. Early in the 2nd it was Gavin Loven off a feed from Cal Bussen giving the Spirit their first lead of the game at 2-1. Chrystal Gettman struck again (3 goals in 3 games at forward) off passes from Gage Robb and Kurt Buckman. Aidan Pallohusky would make it 4-1 on a nice burst down the left side, cutting to the middle and beating the Affton goalie blocker side. Peters would pick up the assist on the goal. Late in the 2nd it was Logan Ripper getting his first goal of the year off a feed from Pallohusky to make it a commanding 5-1 lead. A four goal second period would almost secure a victory you would think. Affton proved why you must play the entire game at full speed as they would score 2 goals less than 20 seconds apart to cut the lead to 5-3. That was a close as Zahn Werner would let them as he went end to end to make it 6-3 Spirit. The win would secure the #1 seed for the semi-final game on Sunday morning.

After Omaha lost to Meramec in a shocking upset the night before, it gave Affton another shot at the Spirit in a rematch to see who would go to the championship. After some discussion during warmups and in the locker room, the Spirit knew they had to play a complete game. They did not give Affton an inch of ice in route to a 6-1 win. Leading the charge with 4 goals was Gavin Loven. Brooks Kettering and Cal Bussen would also tally as the Spirit was dominate in every fashion, earning the trip to the championship.

It was time. The championship game was upon them. The Spirit were ready to take the next step and finish off the weekend on a high note. Springfield would play the Omaha Jr. Lancers who, like the Spirit had a rematch from the night before. This time around Omaha beat Meramec when it counted to advance to the finals. The first period was more of a feeling out process as the Lancers and Spirit traded opportunities and played well defensively in a scoreless first period. In the 2nd period Logan Ripper found a loose puck in the neutral zone and took off. Ripper got just inside the blue line and fired a shot off the left post and in to give Springfield a 1-0 lead. 2 minutes later Gavin Loven went end to end to make it 2-0, firing a puck over the Lancer goalie’s glove. That was it for the 2nd with the Spirit up 2-0. In the 3rd period Cooper Pumphrey made the save of the game to keep the Lancers scoreless. The Lancer player went down the left side and cut right across the middle, firing a puck back the other way. Pumphrey, while moving to his left kicked out the right pad to make a phenomenal toe save. This was about all the Spirit needed as another goal from Gavin Loven would put Springfield up 3-0 and win them the championship. The Spirit poured over the boards and the celebration was on. A tremendous weekend with a 5-0 record. Pumphrey with the shutout earned MVP honors.

In big weekends like this, some tend to look at scoresheets as game indicators and how well players play. This is not always the case as you need the intensity of players game in and game out in order to be successful. Will Peters and Gage Robb were relentless on the puck all weekend and made it very hard on opponents, causing turnovers and making plays. If the Spirit continue this style of play they will be very hard to play against going forward.

The Spirit improve their record to 10-1-2 with league play in a couple weeks. Springfield has one blemish on their record and they look to avenge that loss when Kirkwood #1 comes to town for two games. The Stars are the only team to beat Springfield this season (3-2). These games should be fun to watch.

Notes: Gavin Loven had 10 goals in the tournament increasing his total to 21 on the year in just 13 games. Cooper Pumphrey has 6 shutouts in 13 games posting a .931 save percentage.

Goal Leaders: Loven- 21, Wirth- 9, Werner- 8

Assist Leaders: Bussen- 6, Wirth- 6, Kettering- 5

Plus/Minus Leaders: Loven- +24, Werner- +23, Bussen- +22