Pottala ignites Wolves

Prairie Ridge's Clarke Carpenter celebrates his first period goal during Saturday's AHAI Blackhawk Cup Red Division playoff game against St. Charles North at the Edge Ice Arena in Bensenville. The Wolves won, 5-2. (Jeff Krage – For the Northwest Herald)

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BENSENVILLE – Few things can motivate or deflate a team like a hockey goal in the final seconds of a period.

Prairie Ridge defenseman Johnny Pottala’s goal with 7 seconds remaining in the second period was not the game-winner, but it was the game-changer against St. Charles North.

After Pottala’s goal tied the score, the Wolves came out relieved and relaxed and put North away, 5-2, in their AHAI Blackhawk Cup Red Division State Tournament game Saturday night at The Edge.

“The biggest pet peeve of a coach is allowing a goal at the end of a period,” Prairie Ridge assistant coach Rick Rewiako said. “It’s a huge momentum boost.”

Thirteenth-seeded Prairie Ridge (26-19-7) advances to Thursday’s 6:40 p.m. quarterfinal game against No. 7 St. Rita, a team the Wolves lost to twice this season.

Until Pottala’s goal, Prairie Ridge felt it had outplayed North, yet it still trailed, 2-1.

“The first and second periods, they were everywhere,” said right wing Clarke Carpenter, who scored two goals. “They played a really good game. We went into the locker room and thought, ‘OK, it’s 0-0 now, just play the game and we’ll be fine.’ ”

North’s Matt Perri beat Wolves goalie Cory Simons high to his glove side with 7:14 remaining in the second period for a 2-1 lead. Pottala sensed the tide was turning even before he scored.

“You could tell on the bench we were down, we were on each other a little bit about halfway through the period,” Pottala said. “Our attitude got better and it worked out for us.”

Chris Van Damme scored 1:20 into the third period and the Wolves kept applying pressure on goalie Erik Rasmussen, who had 34 saves. Defenseman Jeffrey Ramsey slipped a pass through the middle for Carpenter, who went in along on Rasmussen and beat him for a 4-2 lead.

Wolves right wing Alexander Taulien added another goal late for the 5-2 margin.

“We started slow, but once we started moving the puck, it went in the back of the net,” Prairie Ridge defenseman Andrew Sprouse said. “There’s nerves in a game like that, but you have to get by them. Last year we got knocked out early [in the first round], so this year’s a redemption year.”

Another win and Prairie Ridge will be in the semifinals for the first time.

“Everybody was shocked when we were down, 2-1, but we kind of went out and expected to get the job done,” Rewiako said. “We really took it to them in the third. Once we started moving the puck, they couldn’t say with us.”

Simons had 18 saves and Taulien had two assists with his goal. Van Damme had a goal and an assist.

“For a team ranked 29th we played pretty well,” North Stars coach Jim Quinn said. “That goal at the end of the second period really hurt our momentum. We played well enough to make a game out of it. They’re a good team and their goaltender [Simons] is really good.”