ST. LOUIS -- The Edwardsville Tigers couldn’t spoil Senior Night for the De Smet Spartans on Thursday.
The Tigers were shut out for the second time this season, losing 4-0 to the Spartans at Queeny Park in a Municipal Conference meeting.
“We’ve seen a lot of improvements in a lot of areas, but we have to find a way to score,” Edwardsville coach Jason Walker said. “We’ve grown defensively as a team, but we are shooting ourselves in the foot by not creating chances and scoring.”
Edwardsville is now 7-9-2 for 16 points. It sits in seventh place of the nine-team conference,
Excluding a 5-2 victory over Fort Zumwalt West on Monday, the Tigers have a combined two goals in their last three losses. They have been outscored 21-2 in that stretch.
“We have goals and expectations we have for this group. The big thing for us is focusing on getting better game in and game out,” Walker said. “We are motivated for the playoffs.”
It was more of the same against De Smet, which improved to 13-4-3. The Spartans are in second place with 29 points, trailing only Saint Louis University High with 30 points.
The Tigers were outshot 38-21, and if not for goalie Matt Griffin, the four-goal loss could have been much more lopsided.
“I thought that was one of his best games of the year. He played really well. The goals that went in were rebounds or pucks that bounced in off someone,” Walker said of Griffin, who made 34 saves.
It was Griffin’s fifth game with at least 30 saves this season.
The Spartans, though, solved the Edwardsville goalie four times.
Jacob Kausch scored 9:28 into the first period, with his shot trickling past Griffin from the face-off circle for the 1-0 lead.
In the second, De Smet got goals from Daniel Kinzel and Stephen Randazzo to go ahead 3-0. Randazzo’s came on the power play.
The Spartans put the game away with Nickolaus Thorpe’s power play goal with five minutes left in regulation.
While De Smet went 2 for 4 on the power play, Edwardsville was 0 for 5.
The Tigers have gone empty on their last 16 chances.
“Our power play has to be better. We aren’t creating enough chances,” Walker said.
Edwardsville did have a number of chances, especially on even strength.
The best came on a 2-on-1 opportunity early in the first. De Smet goalie William Oliver made a glove ave on Trevor Dailey’s shot off a rebound from Mitchell Oberlag’s chance on the doorstep.
“Their goalie played awesome,” Walker said. “You like the fact that we were able to create those scoring chances early in the game, but we needed to bang one of those in. You have to tip your cap to the goalie.”
Oliver finished with 21 saves.
Edwardsville returns to action against Vianney at 6:45 p.m. Saturday in Affton.