Beginning the weekend in second place, the Spirit were out to battle for the number one spot in the league. They did just that going 3-0 on the weekend while outscoring their opponents 12-3.

In game 1 the Spirit matched up against the Twin Bridges Lightning. Midway through the first period Gavin Loven sent a shot off the right pad of the Lightning goaltender, Wyatt Wirth was there for the rebound to put Springfield up 1-0. Two and a half minutes later Loven, off a Kettering pass put another one off the Lightning netminder. The rebound was found by Will Peters who put the puck in the top corner for a 2-0 lead. Late in the first off a great breakout in the defensive zone, Aidan Pallohusky, playing in his first game on defense broke the puck out to Peters who chipped it off the boards past the opposing defenseman. Zahn Werner collected the puck at full speed and put the Spirit ahead 3-0. This score would hold up for much of the second period as both teams would trade chances. It wasn’t until 15 seconds left that Loven would tally goal 41 of the season to make it 4-0. That was all that was needed as the Spirit defensive play was too much for the Lightning in a big 4-0 win. Cooper Pumphrey picked up his 8th shutout of the season stopping all 11 shots he faced.

In game 2 the Spirit played the Southern Illinois Ice Hawks in their first matchup of the season. The first period was scoreless as the Spirit carried the play but could not solve a very good netminder for the Ice Hawks.  Less than 3 minutes into the 2nd Zahn Werner found Gavin Loven down the middle and the Spirit finally got on the board. Werner would tally again a few minutes later on an unassisted goal of his own to make it 2-0. Four minutes late the Ice Hawks would break through off a net mouth scramble and cut the lead to 1. With just under 3 minutes remaining in the second period, Loven would go end to end to net his second goal of the game, but 15 seconds later a seeing eye shot from the Ice Hawks found the back of the net to make it 3-2. Early in the third Brooks Kettering found Loven who would score his third of the game and push the lead back to 2. With four minutes to go Cal Bussen joined in by scoring a goal from a near impossible angle to make it 5-2. The score would hold up and the Spirit would take game 1 of 2 between them and the Ice Hawks.

In game 3 a more determined Southern Illinois team came to play but it would be the Spirit who would strike first. Crystal Gettman found a Gavin Loven rebound and put it in the back of the net for a 1-0 lead. Less than 2 minutes later Megan Fisch found Will Peters who outskated the Ice Hawk defense and went in all alone on a breakaway and put the Spirit up 2-0. In the second period off a turnover in the defensive zone, Southern Illinois was able to get on the board to cut the deficit to 1. Four minutes later Kurt Buckman and John Brown setup Gavin Loven who put the Spirit up 2 again at 3-1. The third period saw a few Southern Illinois rushes but to no avail. The Spirit would take the game 3-1.

With 3 wins the Spirit moved back into 1st place ahead of rival Affton.

Springfield will be on the road again for makeup games that were cancelled due to weather back in December. The Spirit will play Kirkwood #2 who they beat 2-1 a month ago. They will also take on the St. Peters Spirit who is in 1st place in their respective division. Games will be at Lindenwood and St. Peters RecPlex.

Season leaders:

Goals: Loven-15, Wirth-10, Werner-8
Assists: Loven-8, Wirth/Bussen-6, Kettering/Gettman/Brown-4
Points: Loven-23, Wirth-16, Werner-10
Plus/Minus: Loven-21, Bussen-20, Wirth-14

50 goal watch- Loven has 45 goals and is 5 away from the 50 goal mark.