One for the underdogs

Prairie Ridge’s Alexander Taulien chases down the puck against Loyola Academy during the second period Sunday at Crystal Ice House in Crystal Lake. Prairie Ridge won the High School Invitational Tournament game, 2-1, on the strength of Taulien’s two first-period goals. (Travis Haughton – thaughton@nwherald.com)

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CRYSTAL LAKE – Prairie Ridge did not flinch when it faced a 5-on-3 shorthanded situation for 50 seconds in the second period.

And in the third period, with Loyola Academy applying constant pressure, goalie Cory Simons and the defense came up with crucial stops.

The Wolves made two first-period goals from Alexander Taulien stand up as they defeated one of the state’s best teams, 2-1, on Sunday night at Crystal Ice House in a High School Invitational Tournament game.

Not only did the win provide a milestone for the program, but it almost assured the Wolves a spot in the HIT playoffs. The HIT is a 12-team, season-long event in which the top four teams meet at the end in a single-elimination playoff.

Prairie Ridge (24-18-5 overall, 7-2-1 HIT) has 15 points with one game remaining, against Stevenson (14 points) today at Buffalo Grove. New Trier Green (16) leads, while Loyola (12) and St. Rita (12), each with two remaining games, remain alive.

“We came in as underdogs, and this [win] proved everybody wrong,” said Simons, who finished with 34 saves. “This is a big steppingstone for the program.”

Prairie Ridge is seeded No. 13 in next month’s AHAI Blackhawk Cup Red Division State Tournament.

Loyola will go into the tournament as the No. 2 seed.

Taulien scored early on a power-play goal with assists from Christian Blatner and Chris Van Damme. The Ramblers (20-8-4, 5-2-2) tied the score on Kyle Akers’ power-play goal late in the first period, but Taulien scored the deciding goal in the final minute of the first period.

“That first goal was good hard work by Christian and Chris,” Taulien said. “That sparked the team and we needed a good start. This means a lot for our team and our program.”

The Wolves committed two penalties which overlapped for 50 seconds midway through the second period. In all, they were shorthanded for 3:10 and came out unscathed.

“It was a great all-around effort by everybody,” Wolves coach Casey Van Damme said. “It was a fast-paced, well-played game. Cory played a great game. Every one of them left it all out there.”

Prairie Ridge was celebrating its Senior Night, which might have added an extra boost in emotion.

“They were fired up to play; our kids didn’t match their intensity at first,” Loyola assistant coach Mike Saliba said.

“We played a good third period, but their goalie was on his game.”