The varsity EHS hockey team won their first game of the season against the Oakville Tigers last Friday, winning 5-3 and making them this year’s champions of the “Clash of the Cats.”

The annual match against Oakville has been EHS’s first game of the season for two years in a row. This year, EHS was able to steal the trophy back from the winners of last year’s clash.

The game was tense, especially leading up to the final few minutes. Although EHS remained in the lead for the entire game, both players and spectators alike expected a fight from both teams.

“They were really good last year, so we knew they’d be really good this year,” senior Zach Cohn said.

The friendly rivalry between the Tigers usually ends as a toss-up each year and assistant coach Andrew Tucker said he was not surprised by the competition or outcome of the game.

“[Oakville] is anywhere from top five to top 20 teams in Missouri,” coach Tucker said. “If we keep playing that way, we’ll be tough to beat.”

Coach Tucker said defense was great and he hopes to see the energy continue throughout the season into playoffs.

Senior Dylan Joachimsthaler said he looked forward to the tough match and anticipated playing Oakville again.

“I got pretty excited. You never know what to expect,” Joachimsthaler said. “We lost to [Oakville] last year so it was exciting to be able to come back a year later and play them again.”

Oakville’s return as EHS’s first opponent of the year isn’t the only reoccurring aspect of the start of the season.

The team is going into their second year participating in the “Hockey Fights Cancer” fundraiser: an initiative taken by the NHL and NHLPA to raise money for cancer research.

Starting last Friday, the Tigers will play other teams in Missouri that are participating in “Hockey Fights Cancer” every Friday night, when they will wear special jerseys and socks paid for by the St. Louis Blues.

Coach Tucker said this season the Tigers hope to raise $100,000 from their Friday night games.

“Last year we raised $41,000,” he said. “And every penny we make is going straight to cancer research.”

Both coaches and teammates are expecting a great season between the fundraising and this year’s lineup.

Cohn said the win last week sets the bar for the rest of the season.

“[The game] just gave us the confidence we needed to go out and beat [other teams],” he said.

Head coach Jason Walker agrees that the win sets the Tigers up for a great season. He said the game gave the team a glimpse of the season ahead so they can come out better than ever.

“[The team] has a lot of confidence,” coach Walker said. “[The win] gives us an idea of where we’re at and what we need to work on.”

The hockey team looks forward to a season of success and last Friday’s game was just the one to start it off.

“This is the strongest team we’ve had in my four years here,” Cohn said. “Top six is what you’ll expect.”