Vikings extend winning streak to 8

Friday night's St. Charles West Conference game had a little bit of everything for the hockey fan. Two evenly matched teams, physical play, great goaltending, scoring, defense and most importantly - a Francis Howell victory.

Liberty jumped out to an early 1-0 lead with 6:34 left in the first period, but the Vikings quickly evened the score. Senior Assistant Captain Sean Gilmore  scored just :37 seconds later. Gilmore's goal was assisted by Senior Danny Del Vecchio and Senior Assistant Captain Caleb Bridges with 5:57 left in the first.

The second period started off a lot like the first. Liberty jumped back into the lead just :38 seconds into the second. Junior Charlie Jackson pulled the Vikings back even just a little more than a minute later. Jackson's third goal of the season came with 13:22 left in the period, assisted by Junior Michael Land.  Jackson and Land weren't through, however.

Land's stretch pass to Jackson with 6:41 left in the period, on the penalty kill, gave Howell the lead they would never surrender, 3-2 Vikings.

Francis Howell added two tallies in the final period.  Senior Captain Riley Wright  extended the lead with a power play goal with 9:29 remaining, assisted by Bridges and Jackson.

The final tally came with just 2:52 left.  Sophomore Nate Angelo's fourth goal of the season, assisted by Freshman Nolan Manzella and Senior Nick Trankler cemented the Viking's victory, 5-2.

The offense had so share the spotlight with Senior goaltender Jack Finch Friday night. Finch faced a season-high 28 shots on goal, turning away all but two. Battling with traffic on front of the net all night, Finch picked up his third victory of the season.

Francis Howell (8-0-0) gets a couple of days off before they take on last season's Wickenhauser Cup Champions, Parkway West (4-4-0) at the Maryville University Ice Center Monday, Dec. 1 at 9:30pm.