St. Paul Academy Spartans' latest opponent was the Mankato West Scarlets. The Scarlets were the latest team to have to try and slow down the Spartans speed, and like many teams of late, they were unsuccessful, with the Spartans winning 8-1.  

The Spartans got off to a fast start with Dev McCabe scoring just 30 seconds into the first period.  That was McCabe's first goal of the season, but not his last of the game.  We asked Head Coach Matt Funk what other things Dev does for the team when he is not scoring goals, "Dev is a strong two way player that has an edge to his game. He has pressed at times to get that first one so I can't think of a better way to start then have him score 30 seconds in. The great thing about Dev is he can be a scorer for us and has in the past, but he brings so many other things that are critical for our team's success (i.e. killing penalties, winning key faceoffs, and making his line mates better.) I am just glad we got the first one behind us."

The St. Paul Academy Spartans are rolling, winning nine out of their last eleven games, and outscoring opponents 49 to 21 during that stretch.  Funk had this to say when asked about how to keep his team focused during this time of the season with the recent success, "I have a great coaching staff that boys trust. It doesn't work when they hear just one voice because once things go south they start to doubt the process. On Monday, I didn't go on the ice and had my assistants run practice. It was one of the best of the year. They needed a break from me. Yesterday we knew a few of the guys were pressing so my goalie coach suggested he put the pads on to loosen the boys up. It was fantastic. I also have terrific senior leadership. We have guys that are focused on doing it for the guy to their right and left without the individual accolades."  

The Spartans received some great individual efforts on a few of the eight goals.  They seemed to keep the pressure on the Scarlets at a very consistent rate. Funk said this about the teams depth and efforts, 'I couldn't be more proud of the depth that has developed on this team. I have 9 guys that are in double digit points 14 games in. My two best penalty killers play on my 3rd line (Sam Petronio & Oliver Hoeschen) and I am seeing strong efforts from guys that have been asked to play different roles than they have ever played before (Jack Sullivan,  Jake Hosszu,  and Adam Zukowski.) The other great thing about today is my JV won their first game in 2+ years led by our varsity back up goalie Danny Reich with the shutout. I even had two of my older guys Charlie Ward and Kieran Gallagher give up their varsity time to play all 3 periods to ensure we won the game. That is a true example of putting the team before yourself.  I was happy to see the entire Varsity when they came off the ice cheering them on."