Ryan Mueller, Jace Jordan come up big as CBC earns first win over SLUH since 2022

Moments after scoring a key goal in CBC’s 2-1 win over St. Louis U. High in a Mid States Club Hockey Association Municipal Conference game at the Affton ice rink, the sophomore defenseman had to put on another Cadets jersey to play in the JV game that immediately followed.

“It feels pretty nice,” Mueller said of the quick turnaround. “It feels like we're going to bring momentum to the JV game.”

Mueller’s goal helped CBC (15-1-3) snap a four-game winless streak against the Jr. Billikens going back to December 10, 2022. Sophomore Jace Jordan had a goal and an assist and senior Richard Struckhoff made seven saves for the Cadets to improve to 13-1-3.

“Honestly just keeping your composure and just knowing that we're going to come out of here with a ‘W,’ ” Jordan said.

Logan Petlansky scored and Andrew Bely made 23 saves for SLUH (14-5-1), who lost for the first time in their last five games (3-0-1).

SLUH handed CBC its lone loss this season on November 18. The Cadets have an 11-0-3 record since.

“I'm just really happy for our guys,” CBC coach John Jost said. “That was a tough loss for us the first time against them and going into the playoffs, it gives us a ton of momentum.”

Petlansky’s power play goal at 6:24 of the first period gave SLUH the lead on its first shot on goal of the game and its only shot in the opening frame. Petlansky scored just six seconds into the man advantage and Elliot Caplin and Hank Fusco got the assists.

“They had a major step on us early on, even though we got up 1-0,” SLUH coach Steve Walters said. “I think they were getting to the pucks a little bit quicker so they got the momentum of the game, but halfway through that game, I felt like we started moving our feet more, playing a little bit more physical, blocking shots. We just couldn't find a rhythm.”

Mueller evened the game for CBC with a laser from the high slot at 12:55 of the first. The goal came seconds after a Cadets power play expired as they maintained pressure in the Jr. Billikens zone.

“A hard-fought battle against SLUH,” Mueller said. “Just took one shot, tied it up. “We kept the pressure on.”

Jordan gave CBC a 2-1 lead at 4:40 of the second period, scoring on a deflection of a Cameron Wilson shot.

SLUH had a late power play in the third period, but Struckhoff made a pair of saves and Jordan had a key clear to protect the lead.

“Just hoping to put my body in front of the net and hopefully block a shot,” Jordan said of the kill.

Missing in action

Both teams were missing key players due to club hockey commitments.

CBC was without its top three points leaders in Matthew Jost, William Casseau and Carter Clemons. SLUH was missing some of its key cogs in Daniel Sendobry, George Lyons and Kai Duncan.

Playoff picture

With the win, CBC sits just two points behind De Smet for the top spot in the Municipal Conference. A win over Priory on Saturday in the Cadets’ season finale would pull them even with the Spartans, who have finished their regular season.

A win against Priory would technically give CBC the conference title because they have the tiebreaker going 1-0-1 head-to-head against DeSmet in the regular season. The winner of the Municipal Division would almost certainly claim the top seed in the Challenge Cup playoffs.

“We don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves,” John Jost said. “We understand that the road is just beginning, but we’ve got to beat Priory tomorrow night and that’s our focus right now.”