On Friday, November 30, the Spartans took to the ice in their 10th game of the season, facing local rival Howell North.

Expectations were high for the Spartans heading into the game, and the standards were well defined.  After all, Howell North has not defeated the Spartans on any occasion for the past five years. Fletcher Zieman was amongst the players, who knew what was asked of them prior to the game.

“All the coaches were telling us that if we didn’t mercy rule them we were going to be punished,” the Senior Captain said. “we did not mercy rule them so we were punished”

According to Zieman, North initially caught them off guard. “The most surprising part of the game was probably the first shift, we went out there thinking we’re just going to steamroll them, but they actually took a lead on the first shift.”

The Spartans responded well to this early challenge, tacking on 9 goals on their way to victory.

After padding their lead, though, they began to let up on the knights, allowing 2 goals in the 3rd period. Senior Forward Jack Ortinau expressed the team’s worries about their 3rd period play.

“They were about as bad as we thought they were gonna be, but we played poorly and stooped down to their level”.

Zieman also acknowledged that this has been the one overarching problem in the Spartan’s otherwise successful season.

“We play down to the level of the team that we play. So if we’re playing a bad team, we don’t play our best game” Zieman said.

Junior left winger Grant Hartenbach was confused by the coaches’ attitude at the end of the game saying “I thought we played great, but apparently not to coach. Coach made us skate the next practice, which was brutal.  He said we should have mercied them, like, gotten 15 goals.”

Hartenbach could understand and could also see some room for improvement in shift changes.

“When teammates come off of a shift, then we have to get on the ice and get something done, regardless of what happened on the shift before ours” Hartenbach said.

One bright spot of the night was the additional points the Spartans will receive for winning a game against a team from their own division.  Another was the excellent performance of Senior Logan Oliver, who currently leads the St.Louis area in scoring, attributing to twenty-five goals. (12 goals and 13 assists)  

“Logan Oliver had six points that game.” Ortinau said. “His play stands out because he is  always hitting people and always making really good moves to get set up for goals.”
On Friday, December 7th, the Spartans will have their Senior Night at the Rec-plex, facing bitter rivals Francis Howell. This fixture has importance not only as a rivalry, but has weight in the division standings, with Howell sitting in fourth, two points behind Howell Central. With a win, the Vikings could overtake the Spartans for third place.

After an excellent start the Spartans have an opportunity to solidify their spot around the top of the division, and prove that this season could be a great one for Spartan Hockey.