With a berth in the State Championship on the line the #1 Springfield Spirit took to the ice in St. Louis this past weekend in a single elimination playoff bracket. The Spirit were dominate in every fashion, proving why they earned the #1 seed in league play.
In game 1 the Spirit would play a very familiar opponent in the Twin Bridges Lightning. The Spirit took all 3 games from the Lightning from declaration to regular season play winning by scores of 6-0, 4-0, and 3-0. Springfield wanted to come out and make a statement in their opening game of the playoffs and they would need to do so without the assistance of Gage Robb who was out with an illness. Midway through the first period Logan Ripper and John Brown combined to setup Wyatt Wirth who scored to make it 1-0. Less than a minute later Will Peters found Zahn Werner who would find an open Brooks Kettering to put the Spirit up by 2. Just over two minutes later leading scorer Gavin Loven would break in all alone for an unassisted goal to make it 3-0. Twin Bridges would strike back with their first goal against the Spirit this season off a turnover in the Springfield end, the period would close 3-1. In the second period John Brown would find Logan Ripper wide open in front of the goal and he would bury it for a 4-1 Spirit lead. Late in the second Loven would take the puck end to end again to score for a 5-1 lead. That would be it for the second period as the Spirit turned it on and the Lightning were just trying to hang on. In the third period Loven sent a shot off the goalie and Kurt Buckman was there to collect a rebound to put the Spirit ahead 6-1. Loven would tally the hat trick three minutes later on another great individual effort. Late in the third Ripper would fire a puck off the goalie’s pads and Brown would collect the rebound and put it in the back of the net. The Spirit would make their statement to the league with an 8-1 dominating win.
In game 2 the Spirit would play a much tougher opponent in the Kirkwood #2 Stars with a chance to play for the State Championship. Springfield got Gage Robb back for this game and had a full team ready to go. Springfield and Kirkwood #2 battled this year with the Spirit winning 2-1 and tying the other game 2-2 so they knew they had to increase their level of intensity if they wanted to win this game. Throughout much of the first period play went end to end with some Stars chances and some Spirit chances on goal. Springfield carried most of the play but couldn’t find the back of the net. It wasn’t until the waning seconds that Zahn Werner moved the puck into the corner to Brooks Kettering. Kettering faked going around the net and put the puck out short side to Will Peters who would score with 0.8 seconds remaining for a 1-0 Spirit lead. This was a huge momentum goal going into the break and the Spirit kept pushing for more. Midway through the second Kettering returned the favor by sending the puck to Werner on the blue line. Werner found an open Gavin Loven across the ice who would over power the Stars goalie for a 2-0 lead. Kirkwood pressed in the second but defense stood tall and Cooper Pumphrey made some key stops to keep the lead at 2. The third period belonged to the Spirit who smothered every opportunity the Stars had, an impressive defensive effort. Late in the third Peters found Werner on the point who sent a shot on goal. The puck would be deflected in by Kettering and put the game out of reach with a 3-0 lead. That would be it for the game as the Spirit, in dominating fashion would win and earn the right to play for the State Championship.
The Spirit will play the Kirkwood #1 Stars in the State Championship game next weekend 3/5/17 at 10:40am. The game with be at the Hardee’s Iceplex in Chesterfield, MO.
Championship preview
Springfield and Kirkwood #1 met 3 times this season. Kirkwood took the first game in declaration by a score of 3-2. The Spirit would sweep the Stars in league play winning by scores of 3-1 and 5-3. Springfield will need to bring its stingy defense to the table as Kirkwood’s offense scored the most goals out of any team in the regular season with 80 goals. The Spirit have given up only 23 goals this year and can score at will. Defense will be the key in the State Championship.