The Duchesne Pioneer Ice Hockey Team opens up play over the next few weeks as they will take part in the annual St. Chuck Cup Tournament.  This is a ten team tournament that features all of the teams represented in St. Charles County.

Duchesne opens up play on Monday Night, Sept. 30 at 9:20pm and they will host the Ft. Zumwalt West Jaguars.  Both Duchesne and FZ West have won a State Championship in the past five years, so the matchup should be a good one.  There are three other games scheduled for the round robin portion of the tournament.  Those games and times are as follows -

Thursday, Oct. 3 @7:10pm vs Timberland High School - Wentzville Ice Arena

Thursday, Oct. 10 @7:10pm vs. Francis Howell High School - Wentzville Ice Arena

Sunday, Oct. 13 @7:10pm vs. Holt High School - Wentzville Ice Arena

The team would love to see Pioneer Nation in full force at the games so think about coming out and attending a game or two.  Cost is $5 at the door - far less than a Blues game and the concessions are about 1/8 of the cost of a Blues game as well.  So, come on out and support your Pioneer Ice Hockey Team!

Despite a very spirited effort through three full periods of play, the Duchesne Ice Hockey team fell short in their pre-season opener versus Fort Zumwalt West.  The first period of play saw Duchesne coming out ready to play against one of their strongest rivals.  The first period saw both teams going back and forth down the ice, but not able to score.  It wasn't until late in the first period that FZ West put up their first goal of the game to go up 1-0.

The second and final goal put up by FZ West came in the second period, and from that point on Duchesne's defense and goaltending shut down the Jaguars the rest of the way.  However, it was the play of West's goalie that really shut down the Pioneers.  Despite some amazing shots and some great opportunities, Duchesne's offense could not get a goal past their senior goalie all night making the final score 0-2 in favor of the Jaguar's.

Despite being down 2-0 for more than half of the game, the offense and defense of Duchesne never let up and battled until the clock showed 0:00.  They also did not give up a goal during any of the Jaguar's power play opportunities.  The defensive effort was remarkable given that two of Duchesne's senior defensemen, Lucas Daleo and Auggie Lee, were not able to play in the game.  Several players stepped up to fill their shoes.

Next up for Duchesne Ice Hockey is Timberland High School.  That game will be played at 7:10pm on Thursday Night, Oct. 5 at Wentzville Ice Arena.  This will be Game 2 of 4 of the 3rd Annual St. Chuck Cup Pre-Season Tournament and it should be a good matchup.  If you get a chance to come and see the game, please do so. 

If you watched the first half of the first period, you might have thought Duchesne's Ice Hockey team just wasn't "feeling it".  Timberland came out early and dictated the tempo of the game and by the halfway point of the first period were up 2-0 on Duchesne.  However, Coach Ed Kelsey kept repeating the phrase, "It's early boys.  There is still a lot of hockey to play."  That was the fuel that started the fire.

Moments later, Junior Ryan Adkerson fired a long pass to Senior Nick Morgan who buried it in the net to get within a goal.  Not long after that, Trenton Gebben-Thompson took a face off and fired it down the length of the ice where Senior Carson Kuhn blew past the Timberland defenders and got the puck for a breakaway goal to tie up the score before the end of the first period.

That momentum carried into the second period.  Tied at 2-2, Duchesne took a tripping penalty and were going to be short-handed for two minutes.  In that two minutes, Senior Nick Morgan and Freshman Owen Kelsey scored two short handed goals in less than a minute to put Duchesne up 4-2.  Duchesne kept rolling and put up two more goals in the second period to complete their six unanswered goal run. Senior Nick Morgan completed a hat trick with one of those goals, and Freshman Owen Kelsey got his second of the night.

Freshman goalie Braylon Douglas got his first start of the season.  After going down 2-0 in the first, Braylon proceeded to shut down everything that came near him after that despite numerous shot attemps by Timberland including a few breakaways from their top players.

Despite being down three players, including two senior defenders, the team stepped up to fill those gaps, especially on defense. 

What really seemed to keep fueling the team throughout the game was the large turnout of Duchesne students that not only came to the game, but were being loud and even dancing to the arena music during clock stoppages.  It was no surprise at the final buzzer that the full team went straight to the glass where the students were seated and celebrated the great victory with them.

Next up for Duchesne is Francis Howell High School in Game 3 of the St. Chuck Cup Tournament.  Both teams are 1-1 in the tournament with two games remaining.  That game will take place on Thursday, Oct. 10 at 7:00pm at Wentzville Ice Arena and Duchesne would love to have another great student and fan turnout for that game.  Hope to see you all there!

On Wednesday evening, Oct. 16, Duchesne Ice Hockey will take on St. Dominic for the final game of the 3rd annual St. Chuck Cup Tournament.  Both teams ended up with the 3 seed in their respective brackets and therefore will play one another in the final game.  Game time is 8:20pm at Wentzville Ice Arena.

Duchesne wrapped up round-robin play in the tournament on Sunday night, Oct. 13, against Holt High School where they posted a fantastic 8-0 victory which saw seven different players score goals in the game.  There were goals from Owen Kelsey (2), Nick Morgan, Carson Kuhn, Brendan Birkenmeier, Hudson Bomerschein, and Trenton Gebben-Thompson.  However, the highlight of the night came late in the 3rd period when Freshman Ella Burke scored her first goal of the season.  Moments before, she put a shot on the net and it rattled around the post and crossbar, but did not cross into the net.  Ella did not give up and put herself in position to put it away just a few moments later to the delight of all of her teammates.

In the meantime, Freshman Goalie Braylon Douglas turned in his first shutout of the season with the 8-0 victory between the pipes.

The game against St. Dominic will give both teams a look at each other before this season's 2nd Annual Catholic Cup game between the two schools which will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 27, the day before Thanksgiving.  The Catholic Cup was put together by Duchesne and St. Dominic - the two Catholic Schools in the St. Charles Division - as a way to emphasize the matchup between the two schools during the regular season.  Duchesne will host the game this year at Centene Community Ice Center and the game will be played at The Barn, Centene's outdoor ice rink.  Mark your calendar as this will be a great hockey event and the game time of 5:10pm gives everyone a chance to make it to the game.

In the meantime, the Duchesne Ice Hockey team hopes to see everyone at Wentzville Ice Arena on Wednesday night, Oct. 16, at 8:20pm to cheer them on against St. Dominic.  Good luck, Pioneers!

It may have officially been a pre-season tournament game on the calendar, but Wednesday Night's Ice Hockey game against St. Dominic had all of the feel of a regular season game.  In the finale of the St. Chuck Cup Preseason Tournament, Duchense came away with a solid 6-0 win against their rival, St. Dominic.

Senior Carson Kuhn scored the first goal of the game off of a Nick Morgan pass that went nearly the length of the ice and Kuhn finished it off to put Duchesne up 1-0 in the first period.  After that, it was all Duchesne to the final buzzer.  Senior Nick Morgan ended up with a hat trick in the game will all three assists coming from line mate Carson Kuhn.  Between Kuhn and Morgan, each player had four points in the contest - four goals and four assists.  Freshman Owen "Red" Kelsey added to the six goal total by adding two of his own and nearly garnering a hat trick himself in the contest.

Defensively, Duchesne was relentless - challenging St. Dominic nearly every time they touched the puck.  That didn't stop St. Dominic from taking shots on goal - they took over 20 of them.  Standing in their way was Junior Goaltender Quinn Meyer who stopped every puck that made it's way to him.  After Meyer's transfer from Liberty High School late last season, this was Quinn's first appearance in the net as a Pioneer Goalie.

Duchesne Ice Hockey opens up regular season play on Tuesday, Nov. 5 against Holt High School.  There will be twenty regular season games that culminate on Friday, Jan. 24 with a game against Ft. Zumwalt East.  Playoffs will begin sometime after the final games are concluded and seedings determined.

One of the highlights of this season will be the annual Catholic Cup Game between Duchesne and St. Dominic.  This game will take place the day before Thanksgiving, Nov. 27 at 5:10pm.  The game will be played at Centene Community Ice Center and will take place on their outdoor rink.  The winner of that game will take the Catholic Cup Trophy back to their school until the following years game.  Stayed tuned for more activities centered around that event.

The Duchesne Ice Hockey team opens up regular season play tonight, Nov. 5 against Holt High School.  Holt has already played their first game of the season which resulted in a 2-2 tie against Francis Howell Central High School.

Duchesne has a twenty game schedule ahead of them that takes them through Friday, Jan. 24 before playoffs begin in February.  With ten teams in the St. Charles Division this year (Francis Howell HS was added this year), they will have 18 home and away series with each of those teams and their two out of district games will be against Westminster Christian on Dec. 20 and MICDS on Jan. 6.

In terms of game locations, Duchesne received a very favorable schedule with ten games at the St. Peter's RecPlex, five games at Wentzville Ice Arena, four games at Maryville University Hockey Center, and a game at Centene Community Ice Center.  In terms of game times, thirteen games will have a start time of 8:00pm or earlier this season.  Only five games have a start time of 9:00pm or later.

One of the highlights of this season will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 27 when Duchesne will take on St. Dominic in the annual Catholic Cup game.  This game was specially scheduled the day before Thanksgiving at 5:10pm on the outdoor rink known as The Barn at Centene Community Ice Center.  Please plan on coming to that game earlier to partake in several pre-game activities including tail-gating prior to the game.

For the Duchesne students, we are bringing back the incentive that we offered last year.  The Hockey Team is giving away a 65" Insignia LED FireTV to a student at the end of the season.  Students get one entry for each game they attend during the regular season and playoffs.  Students need to report to the hockey cheerleaders when they attend a game and they will have a punch card to keep track of how many games the students attend.  Last year, Gabby Ulrich won herself the TV at the end of the season which was very fitting in that she attended more games than any other student.

This years captains are Senior Carson Kuhn (C), Senior Lucas Daleo (A), Junior Liam Daleo (A), and Senior Nick Morgan (A).  They will lead a team that is looking to improve on last years team with a Senior heavy team that also has several sophomores with more game experience than most, and some talented Freshman that could be key contributors early on.  Pre-season showed that this team definitely has some good talent going into the season.

We look forward to seeing everyone at what looks to be a very exciting hockey season for the 2024-25 season.  The action starts tonight at 8:30pm at Wentzville Ice Arena.  We hope to see you there.

After a pre-season tournament that showed some promising results for the Duchesne Ice Hockey team, regular season play finally began for the Pioneers on Tuesday Night, Nov. 5.  The Pioneers took on Holt High School and came away with a 4-1 victory in fairly decisive fashion with Holt scoring their only goal late in the game.

After only 1:46 into the game, Freshman Owen Pfeffer scored the first goal of Duchesne's season off of an assist from Senior Trenton Gebben-Thompson.  Gebben-Thompson then went on to score the next two goals himself and giving himself a three point night.  The second goal came late in the first period off of a Freshman Owen Kelsey and Senior Lucas Daleo assist.  That proved to be the game winning goal.  Goal #3 came at 8:08 left in the second period off of a Senior Nick Morgan assist.

The fourth and final goal came from Senior Carson Kuhn off of an assist from Freshman Owen Kelsey and second assist from Senior Nick Morgan.

The Duchesne Defense and Freshman Goalie Braylon Douglas did all they could to try and make the game a shutout victory, but with 3:19 to go in the 3rd period, Holt finally scored on a power play goal to give them their only goal of the game.  Douglas had a great game in the net stopping 15 of 16 shots on goal for a 93.3% save percentage.

The Pioneers have two games this upcoming weekend.  They take on Liberty High School on Friday Night, Nov. 8 at 7:15pm at Wentzville Ice Arena.  The following night, Nov. 9, they host their first home game against Ft. Zumwalt West.  That game will take place at 6:15pm at The St. Peter's RecPlex.  We hope to see the stands full of Pioneer faithful.

After one week and three games, the Duchesne Ice Hockey team is 3-0 and sitting alone atop the standings in the St. Charles Division of Mid-States Hockey.  Duchesne notched a 10-4 win against Liberty on Friday Night, Nov. 8 and added to their win total the next night against Fort Zumwalt West - a team they had not beaten since 2019.

In the Liberty game, the Pioneers had what they thought was a comfortable lead of 5-1.  However, Liberty made a comeback during the second period and got the game to 5-4 in the early part of the 3rd period.  However, less than a minute after that goal, Duchesne opened up an arsenal of offense and scored five unanswered goals which included a hat trick by Senior Nick Morgan in which all three goals were scored within one minute and nine seconds. 

In addition to Morgan's hat trick, Freshman Owen Kelsey had a hat trick of his own and Senior Carson Kuhn had two goals.  Senior Trenton Gebben-Thompson and Sophomore Hudson Bomerschein also contributed goals in the victory.  Junior Quinn Meyer got it done in the net stopping 21 shots on goal for an 84% save percentage.

The next night, Nov. 9, the Pioneers faced a Fort Zumwalt West team that they had not beaten since 2019.  Senior Trenton Gebben-Thompson scored the first two goals of the game to put Duchesne on top 2-0 at the end of the 1st period.  Sophomore Hudson Bomerschein added to that lead on a power play goal with 3:12 left in the second period.  West then went on to score three unanswered goals themselves and with 11:06 left in the game, the score was tied up.

Just as it looked like the game might end up in a tie, Senior Nick Morgan scored the winning goal with 0:44 left in the game sending the Pioneer students and fans into a frenzy.  A late penalty by Duchesne and West pulling their goalie led to an intense final ten seconds where Duchesne had to battle off a 6 on 4 power play.  They succeeded and came away with a win against a very good team.  Junior Dillon "DK" Kuhn got it done between the pipes for Duchesne, stopping 19 of 23 shots for an 86.4% save percentage on the night.

The Pioneers look to keep the momentum going this coming Friday night, Nov. 15, when they take on Timberland High School (0-2-0) at 7:45pm at the St. Peters's RecPlex.  Like the past two games, the team hopes to see the Duchesne students with solid numbers in the stands.

The Duchesne Ice Hockey Team continued the successful start to their season with two more wins this past weekend against Timberland High School and Fort Zumwalt North.  The two wins bring their unbeaten record to 5-0-1 on the season and they currently lead the St. Charles Division in Mid-States Hockey.  Even more impressive was the fact that the two wins came with several members of the team not playing due to various obligations where they could not be in attendance for the games.

Duchesne, who already operates with a shorter bench than most other teams already, got the win against Timberland with just 11 skaters - 7 less than their full bench.  The following night against FZ North was nearly the same but with a few extra skaters.  The short handed wins gave the players a great sense of confidence as they get set to enter a part of their schedule that has some tougher opponent.

Through their first six games of the season, four Duchesne skaters are in the Top 10 for points in the entire Mid-States League which consists of 760 registered players.  Senior Nick Morgan leads all of the Mid-States League with 21 points (16 goals, 5 assists) and has a seven point lead on the next person on the list.  That next person on the list, and in 2nd overall, is Freshman Owen Kelsey with 14 points (4 goals, 10 assists) on the season.  Trenton Gebben-Thompson (12 points - 8 goals/4 assists) and Carson Kuhn (11 points - 5 goals/6 assists) are also both in the Top 10 of the league.

Junior Dillon Kuhn took the goalie duties for both games this past weekend and allowed just 4 total goals from 41 shots that were taken by the two teams they faced.  This gave Kuhn a 90.2% save percentage and lowered his goal against average for the season to 2.75.

The 5-0-1 record sets up nicely for the upcoming Catholic Cup Matchup between Duchesne and St. Dominic on Wednesday, Nov. 27 at 5:10pm at Centene Community Ice Center.  St. Dominic is the only other unbeaten team in the St. Charles Division coming in with a record of 4-0-1.  St. Dominic's wins have come against some similar opponents as Duchesne's, so the matchup should be a good one.  During the pre-season, Duchesne had a commanding win over St. Dominic 6-0, but both teams were without key players during that contest.  Both team should be operating with full benches for the upcoming game.

For the game on Nov. 27, we ask everyone to come a little early as tailgating festivities will be taking place starting at 3:30pm outside the rink. Santa will be at the tailgate for photos before the game and there will be other giveaways as well.  For Duchesne students, entry is free into the game courtesy of the Duchesne Athletic Booster and the Duchesne Hockey Club.  Furthermore, any student attending the Nov. 27 game will get two entries to the 65" Fire TV giveaway at the end of the season.  We would love to have as many students as possible at the game.  This is also an opportune time for alumni and other Duchesne supporters to come out to a special Duchesne Athletic Event.  We look forward to seeing everyone there.

If you would have asked any member of the current Duchesne Ice Hockey team if you thought they would be unbeaten past the halfway point of the regular season, even the most optimistic of the bunch would have probably said no.  However, that is exactly where they are.  Just one game past the halfway point of the season, Duchesne Hockey has a 9-0-2 record and sit alone atop the St. Charles Division.  In fact, they are one of only two teams in all of Mid-States Hockey with an unbeaten record.  The other team is Ladue with a 10-0-2 record.  With the team's 9-3 victory over Francis Howell Central, they have now played every team in the St. Charles division at least once.

Duchesne has managed to get to this point with all three aspects of their game - offense, defense, and goal tending.

On the offensive side, Duchesne boasts four players in the Top 25 in points out of 760 registered players in Mid-States, and three of those are in the Top 10.  To have one or two players in the Top 25 would be considered an accomplishment, but having four is nearly unheard of.

At the top of that list is Senior Nick Morgan who is having the season of a lifetime with 32 points (25 goals, 7 assists) through eleven games.  He leads all of Mid-States hockey in total points and goals.  Sitting just one spot below him at #2 overall is Freshman Owen Kelsey who has 31 points (11 goals and 20 assists).  He leads all of Mid-States in assists thus far into the season.

Just a few spots down, at #8, Senior Trenton Gebben-Thompson has 23 points (14 goals, 9 assists) and Senior Carson Kuhn sits in the #25 spot with 15 points (5 goals, 10 assists).  Kuhn's ten assists put him in the Top 10 in that category as well.

On the other side, Duchesne's defense has come a long way from there they were a year ago.  Led by Senior Lucas Daleo, the defense has sometimes been stifling to their opponents.  In a recent game against Francis Howell High School, the Pioneers were completed outplayed and completely outshot by the Vikings for the entire period, yet the score at the end of the period was 0-0.  Despite their best efforts to score on Duchesne, the defense held strong and came through time after time.

Other defensemen such as Sophomore Brendan Birkenmeier, Sophomore Austin Schoene, and Junior Ryan Adkerson have been huge contributors on defense - especially in the absence of Senior Auggie Lee who has been on the injured list, but will be returning to the Pioneers in early January. 

Finally, the goalies this year have been in a class of their own.  Usually when a team has two or three goalies, there is one who stands alone as the top net minder.  However, this team has been blessed with three high quality and high performing goalies.  Seniors Dillon Kuhn (2.83 GAA, 89.2% Saves), Quinn Meyer (3.36 GAA, 91% Saves), and Freshman Braylon Douglas (1.5 GAA, 92.3% Saves) have each proven that they can be relied upon in any situation and against any opponent.  Their combined goal against average is 2.55 and combined save percentage is 90.2% - both solid numbers through eleven games.

Still, with nine games remaining, there are still some very tough matchups coming up for the Pioneers - the biggest of those coming up this Saturday, Dec. 21, against Ft. Zumwalt West who currently sit in the #2 spot of the St. Charles Division.  Duchesne beat West in the third game of the season, but not only was it a close game (final score 4-3), but it took a goal from Senior Nick Morgan with 40 seconds left to pull out the victory.  That was West's only loss in their first 7 games of the season.  They have only lost two on the season.

Regardless of how the season goes from this point forward, if you've been to a Duchesne Hockey game, you know how exciting and fun they are.  Being unbeaten at this point only adds to that excitement and this crew is going to continue to battle for every game remaining in this season.  We encourage all of Pioneer Nation to join the Ice Hockey team to watch at least one of the remaining games of the season.

Congrats thus far, and good luck for the remainder of the season, Pioneer Ice Hockey!!

The historic season continues for Duchesne Hockey after a 13-3 drubbing of conference foe Fort Zumwalt North on Monday Night, Dec. 30.  While their current record of 12-0-3 carries historic significance, it's what looms on the horizon that the players are most looking forward to - a rematch with their biggest rival, St. Dominic.

November 27 was a great evening for hockey in their first matchup.  At that point in the season, both teams were undefeated and the outdoor venue at Centene Ice Arena could not have been a better location for a classic matchup.  This was the setting for the second annual Catholic Cup - a special, annual event set up between the two schools to emphasize their ongoing rivalry in hockey.  While it does not carry any significance in the standing of Mid-States Hockey, it's intent is to create a fun rivalry with a traveling trophy for bragging rights each year.

In the 2023-24 season, St. Dominic took the cup decisively as they routed Duchesne in their first ever regular season meeting.  They went on that season to win the St. Charles Division and represented the division in the Wickenheiser Cup Playoffs.  This year, however, is a different year.  While St. Dominic continues to roster a quality team, it is Duchesne who improved immensely in the off season.

The meeting between the teams was historic with both teams holding leads at different points during the game.  However, the final score ended as a draw with both teams scoring 3 goals.  Mid-States rules does not allow games to go into overtime or shootout in the regular season.  So, the score was officially a tie.

However, it was a special night and the Catholic Cup was at stake.  In a very rare circumstance, Mid-States and the game referees agreed to allow both teams to continue with a shootout to determine the winner of the Cathlolic Cup.  Keep in mind, this shootout would not affect the official tie status of the game.  The shootout would only be for fun and for bragging rights.  When this was announced to the large crowd of fans in the outdoor arena, everyone erupted in cheer as this was about to be the perfect ending to a great game.

However, this is not how the game ended.  Despite the players and fans all getting set for a fun and exciting conclusion, one person adamantly did not want this - the Head Coach for St. Dominic.  For a reason that has never been disclosed, the St. Dom Head Coach strenuously objected to the shootout taking place.  The Duchesne coaches were 100% onboard as were the players for both teams.  Because of the objection though, a shootout never took place and the game abruptly ended.  Shortly thereafter, St. Dominic posted a celebratory photo on social media announcing their retention of the Catholic Cup stating that they retain possession of the cup since they won it the year previous and this game was a tie.

This left an obvious sour taste in the mouths of the Duchesne Hockey Team - especially since a "non-official" opportunity was offered to the teams that would not have affected their official standings in Mid-States Hockey in any way.  St. Dominic retained the Catholic Cup by simply denying any opportunity for the two teams to square up in a shootout.

This brings us to the upcoming rematch on Saturday Night, Dec. 4 at the St. Peter's RecPlex.  While the Catholic Cup may not be at stake in this game, bragging rights certainly are.  The players on Duchesne's roster are ready and excited for the matchup and it should be a great contest between two very good teams.

The last thing that is needed is YOU!!  Despite St. Dominic's student enrollment of over 1100 versus Duchesne's of 250, the student population at the Nov. 27 game was decisively in favor of Duchesne - and this in light of the fact that St. Dom was giving away a big screen TV to a student just for coming to that one single game.  That game proved that Duchesne has much more school pride when it comes to marquee matchups.  We need to prove it one more time, on Saturday Night at the RecPlex.  Game time is 8:00pm.  If you can make it, please come to the game - the team will appreciate it in more way than you can imagine.  It has been a great year for hockey at Duchesne - come and join us for a great rivalry game.  See you there!

Despite his overall fantastic stats over the past several years, it's been a while since Junior Goalie Dillon Kuhn has recorded a shutout.  Doing so against a big rival like St. Dominic was going to be a challenge at the very least.  However, despite 28 shots taken against him, that is exactly what Kuhn did.

Kuhn's motivation for the game came from the previous game against their rival on Nov. 27 - a game that ended as a tie, but Mid-States officials offered a very rare opportunity for a shootout between the two teams.  The shootout would not have affected the official result of the game which was a tie.  However, the Head Coach of St. Dominic did not want to take part in the shootout - a shootout that Kuhn was so ready for that he immediately took his place in the net when it was announced that the shootout would take place.  He stated after that game that he knew he was going to win that shootout and was disappointed that St. Dominic's coach did not want to partake of the rare event.  Kuhn waited for over a month and got his shot again - but this time a shootout was not needed as Duchesne completely owned St. Dominic with the final score of 8-0 which gave the Crusaders a major upset on their Senior Night at the St. Peter's RecPlex.

The win brought Duchesne's record to 13-0-3 as they continue their historic march through the St. Charles Division in Mid-States Hockey. 

With five goals in the game, Senior Nick Morgan also continued on a historic march - one that could put him in position to be the all-time single-season points leader in Duchesne History.  The game put his official number at 48 points (38 goals, 10 assists) - Just 11 away from Vinny Conti's (Class of 2019) record of 59 his Senior Year (41 goals, 18 assists).  Four games remain on the schedule for Morgan to accomplish the feat.

Statistically, Duchesne continues to have four offensive players in the Top 25 of scoring out of 760 registered Mid-States skaters.  Even more amazing is that three of those players are in the Top 4 as of the time of this article.

Defensively, Duchesne also just got Senior Auggie Lee back after sustaining an injury during football season earlier this fall.  In Lee's first game returning, he notched himself a goal against Ft. Zumwalt North during a 13-3 route.

The game against St. Dominic is the team's only shutout this season although they had two one-goal-against games earlier in the season versus Holt and Francis Howell.

Next up for Duchesne is Francis Howell Central (6-9-1).  That night will also be Duchesne's Senior Night at the St. Peter's RecPlex.  Prior to the puck dropping, Duchesne will honor their graduating Seniors Carson Kuhn, Trenton Gebben-Thompson, Lucas Daleo, Auggie Lee, and Nick Morgan.  They will also honor graduating Senior Cheerleaders Ceci Fleri, Madi Hill, and Samantha Gold.

Game time for the contest is 7:45pm on Friday, Jan. 10, but festivities for Senior Night will begin at 5:30pm upstairs at the RecPlex South Facility.  We would love to have Pioneer Nation join us to honor our Seniors.  Hope to see you there, and Let's Go PIONEERS!!

There are three games remaining in the regular season, but with an undefeated 14-0-3 record, the 2024-25 Duchesne Pioneer Ice Hockey Team has already locked up the St. Charles Division Title in the Mid-States Conference.  For this Pioneer team, though, that does not mean pumping the brakes - not even a little.

On Friday Night, Jan. 10, Duchesne took on Francis Howell Central and it was also Duchesne's Senior Night where five hockey seniors and three hockey cheer seniors were recognized prior to the game.  Just a week before this game, Duchesne embarrassed St. Dominic on their Senior Night with an 8-0 shutout win, so they knew they did not want to give their outgoing seniors anything less than a victory.  In fact, they wanted to give them something to remember always.  The game did not disappoint.

Going into the third period, Duchesne led by only one goal as Central had put up a valiant fight for two full periods.  Max Hackmann, Ryan Adkerson, and Nick Morgan had put up three goals through those two periods to give Duchesne a 3-2 lead going into the third.  But it was Team Captain Carson Kuhn's goal with 10:14 left in the game that put the Pioneer's up by two goals and motivated teammates Hudson Bomerschein, and Trenton Gebben-Thompson to score three more unanswered goals to make the final score 7-2 when the buzzer sounded.

What made the game even more exciting was the turnout from the student population of Duchesne High School.  It was perhaps one of the largest student turnouts since the Wickenheiser Cup Championship in 2020.  Those students got to see a game that had a little bit of everything - big goals, big saves, a very rare penalty shot, and even a few big fights.

Already the best regular season record in Duchesne Ice Hockey history, there is still more history that the team would like to make.  For starters, with three regular season games left, the team would like to continue making history with three more wins.  To do so, they will need to notch those three victories over the course of four days - Jan. 21 versus Holt, Jan. 23 versus MICDS, and Jan. 24 versus Ft. Zumwalt East.  That final game will take place at 7:45pm at the St. Peter's RecPlex.

The other history that could be made by the end of the season is the single-season points record.  Currently, Duchesne alumni Vinny Conti ('19) holds the record with 59 points (41 goals, 18 assists) during the 2018-19 season.  Senior Nick Morgan, with three games and playoff games still remaining, sits at 50 points (39 goals, 11 assists).  With his nearly 3 point per game average, Duchesne fans could get to witness history in any of the upcoming games.

But Morgan isn't doing this alone.  Out of 795 registered hockey players in the Mid-States Conference, Duchesne currently boasts the Top 3 scorers and a fourth player in the Top 25.  Freshman Owen Kelsey currently sits at 45 points (18 goals, 27 assists) and leads all of Mid-States in assists.  Senior Trenton Gebben-Thompson has worked his was to the #3 spot with 39 points (17 goals, 22 assists), and Senior Carson Kuhn sits in the Top 25 at the 24th spot with 22 points (9 goals, 13 assists).  The most any other team has is two players in the Top 25 in points.

Defensively, Duchesne continues to dominate under the leadership of Senior Lucas Daleo who is also the points leader on the team defensively with 11 points (3 goals, 8 assists).  Junior Ryan Adkerson has also been a key contributor defensively with six assists this season. 

In the net, Duchesne continues to dominate with three goalies who all currently have over a 90% save percentage and a combined Goal Against Average of 2.53 through 17 games.  Juniors Dillon Kuhn, Quinn Meyer, and Freshman Braylon Douglas have all performed solidly in the net all season and offer that last bit of insurance when the puck makes it to them.

There is one statistic, however, that Duchesne sits at the bottom of the conference in - penalty minutes.  With the exception of SLU High School, Duchesne has the second to last number of penalty minutes out of 35 Mid-States teams with just 96 penalty minutes.

All of these positive statistics come from two other statistics that are not measurable - confidence and teamwork.  In years past, when this team would get down by a goal or two, they lacked the confidence to get themselves back into the game.  That is not the case this season as they have been down in the goal count on several occasions but have always managed to come back in each case.  And the teamwork shows through the shared scoring.  To have the Top 3 scorers in the league proves that nobody on this team is selfish when they get the puck.  The goal is to win - period.  And that is exactly what this team is doing.

Do yourself a favor and come to a game before this season ends.  Duchesne Hockey games do not disappoint when it comes to action and excitement.  And maybe you'll get to witness some history in the process.

Despite a late night (9:40pm) game at an ice rink far, far away (Affton Ice Rink), the Pioneer Ice Hockey Team notched another win against an out of division team, MICDS.  The win puts Duchesne at 16-0-3 for the season with one game remaing - tonight at 7:45pm at the St. Peter's RecPlex.

In the first half of the game, it appeared as though Duchesne was going to run away with it after going up 3-0 in the early part of the 2nd period.  In the first period, Duchesne's Ryan Adkerson received an interference penalty and MICDS had the first power play of the game.  However, Duchesne's Nick Morgan got a hold of the puck immediately after the face off and scored a short handed goal just 9 seconds into MICDS's power play putting Duchesne up 1-0.

Liam Daleo scored just a few minutes later off of an assist from Will Hollenkamp and then Nick Morgan scored again with 10:31 left in the 2nd.  Through all of that, Goaltender Quinn Meyer made an absolute statement in the net stopping shot after shot from MICDS including some that frustrated the MICDS players.

MICDS kept with it and in the late stages of the 2nd period, they scored two goals in 34 seconds to make it a 3-2 game going into the 3rd period. 

The game stayed at 3-2 until finally, with 3:41 remaining, Lucas Daleo took the puck and planted it in the net to go up 4-2.  Still, MICDS made one last effort and scored a goal with 1:38 left in the game.  After that goal, they pulled their goalie to gain a six on five advantage, but Duchesne put forth their best effort and killed their remaining chances to score and held on for the 4-3 win.

Goaltender Quinn Meyer saw 38 shots during the game and stopped all but three of them after an amazing performance between the pipes.  Of note, the win came against MICDS's goalie, Max Brodeur - son of NHL great Martin Brodeur.

Tonight, Jan. 24, is the last regular season game for this Duchesne Ice Hockey Team which has already secured the best record for Ice Hockey in Duchesne's history at 16-0-3 and also secured the St. Charles Division Championship a few games back.  The question is, will they make the ultimate history?  They take on Ft. Zumwalt East who, despite their 8-10-0 record, has some good talent on their team who could give Duchesne fits in the final game.  The team needs every body and soul who bleed Pioneer blue to be in the stands for this final game at the St. Peter's RecPlex at 7:45pm.

In addition to that, Senior Nick Morgan stands at just 6 points away from breaking the Duchesne single-season points record of 58 points set by Vinny Conti in 2019.  Morgan has 42 goals and 11 assists (53 total points) after last nights game and leads all of Mid-States in points and goals.  Just a few points behind him is Freshman Owen Kelsey who has 49 points on the season (18 goals, 31 assists) and leads all of Mid-States in assists.  The record set by Conti includes playoff points, so Morgan is poised to make a serious run at that record.

The team hopes to see everyone out at the RecPlex tonight for the regular season conclusion of what has been a truly amazing and entertaining hockey season!

Following their phenomenal regular season which ended with a record of 16-1-3, there was still speculation on how Duchesne would roll into the Wickenheiser Cup Playoffs.  After all, this is Duchesne's first appearance in the Wick Cup Playoffs since the 2020-21 season where they were knocked out in the Semifinals.  Furthermore, with the teams only loss of the season coming in the final game, it would be easy to speculate that they might be a little "down" going into the playoffs.

Those notions were quickly dispelled on Monday Night. Feb. 3, when Duchesne put away MICDS in Game 1 by a score of 5-1.  Despite the late start of 10:00pm, the Pioneers were wide awake for this game.

The first score of the game did not come until late in the first period when Senior Nick Morgan scored off of face-off assist from Freshman Owen Kelsey with 2:06 left in the period.  In the second period, Senior Carson Kuhn put away goal #2 off of an assist from Trenton Gebben-Thompson.  Just 26 seconds after that goal, Senior Nick Morgan put away his second goal of the night to make it 3-0 Duchesne with 5:42 left in period two.  Before that period ended, however, Morgan got his hat trick for the night with 2:47 left in the second period off of a great assist from Sophomore Max Hackmann.

With a 4-0 lead going into the third period, Senior Trenton Gebben-Thompson was looking to simply dump the puck into the offensive zone for a regular shift change.  He put the puck right on goal and somehow the goalie for MICDS misplayed the puck and it went off of his glove and into the net for a Duchesne goal to make it 5-0 just 53 seconds into the third period.

The 5-0 score stayed that way until just 2:42 left in the game when Duchesne gave up the only goal of the game to MICDS.  This was due to the outstanding play of Junior Goalie Quinn Meyer who stopped 29 of 30 shots on goal.  It was also due to the outstanding play of the Duchesne defense which rarely gave MICDS good looks at the goal.  They also were successful in killing off three MICDS power plays throughout the game.

Playoff Game number two takes place tonight, Feb. 4, at 8:30pm at Webster Ice Arena.  With a win or a tie in the game, Duchesne will move on to Round 2 of the Wick Cup Playoffs against Rockwood Summit.  In the event of a loss, both teams would play a 10:00 minute "mini game" which will determine the winner of round 1.  Should that go to a tie, there would be a shootout immediately afterwards.

Despite the late start, several Duchesne students made the journey to Maryville University Hockey Center for the game and they got to see a good one.  The team hopes to see even more in the stands for Game #2 tonight.  Go Pioneers!!

Prior to Friday Night's game against Francis Howell Central, the Duchesne Ice Hockey Team and the Duchesne Ice Hockey Cheerleaders will be celebrating their graduating Seniors.  Game time is 7:45pm but Senior Festivities will begin at 5:30pm at the St. Peter's RecPlex South in the Upstairs Academy Room.  Snacks and Drinks will be available to anyone who would like to attend.  Graduating Seniors are Carson Kuhn, Lucas Daleo, Trenton Gebben-Thompson, Auggie Lee, Nick Morgan, Ceci Fleir, Madi Hill, and Samantha Gold.  Please join us on Friday to honor our Seniors.