(Photo by Kevin Killen)
Chris Palmquist
Staff Writer
After two years, the rivalry between the Webster Groves Skatesmen and the Kirkwood Pioneers will be reignited. They couldn’t play the Turkey Day game last year because Webster could not field a team, due to lack of players.
In 2011, Webster took the game by a score of 6-1, led by the talent of the seniors.
The Skatesmen are returning under the leadership of a strong senior class. However, that force is going to be easily matched by Kirkwood, who also has a veteran senior class who, keep in mind, also had the chance to play as a team last year.
“We won the last one. We still have the Cup because we didn’t have a team last year, and we’ll try to keep it,” said senior William Pepple.
One of the main challenges for Webster’s head Coach, Dave Garth, is replacing senior goalie, Brett Harris. The slack will be picked up by freshman Zach Sheets who said, “We gotta play better than normal, stay out of the box, play confident, and we can win.”
“I’ve played with a lot of those guys over the years, and they’re going to be formidable foes,” said senior William Pepple. The Skatesmen’s main concern about Kirkwood is the depth of its roster, and its number of seasoned veterans, as opposed to Webster’s sparse numbers.
About his thoughts on his first Turkey Day hockey game, sophomore Jordan Schumate said that,”Kirkwood looks pretty deep, but if all of our guys show up, and play the way we’re supposed to play, we’ll take it to them.”
