Wolves won’t rest on laurels

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CRYSTAL LAKE – A 17-game win streak makes little difference to Prairie Ridge’s soccer season.

The Wolves are, of course, cognizant of their string of victories, which dates to the first week of the season, but the players rarely think of it and they certainly won’t point to it as a reason for added confidence this postseason.

Prairie Ridge hasn’t won a regional title since 2006. The Wolves are far more focused on breaking that streak than celebrating their current one.

“I’ve never talked about [the winning streak],” said coach Dave O’Leary, who will lead his Wolves into the Class 2A Crystal Lake Central regional semifinal against the host-Tigers at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

“With this group, not having lost for a while doesn’t seem to make any difference. It’s much more about going out and doing what we need to do to win.”

The Wolves (17-1-2 overall) received the second seed in the regional. St. Viator is the top seed, and Central is seeded third.

Prairie Ridge beat the Tigers twice during Fox Valley Conference Fox Division play and went on to win the program’s first conference or division title with a 12-0 record.

But none of the accolades are distracting, senior midfielder Maggie Olsen said.

“It’s been more a game-by-game [mentality] than it has been in the past,” she said, “and we have more of a drive to win this year, I think, because we have a lot more talent.”

The Wolves returned most of last year’s team, which finished 13-5-1 overall and second in the FVC Fox. Senior midfielder Erin Kehoe joined the Wolves this season after opting out of high school soccer during her first three years to play club year round.

Kehoe added another threat up top while senior midfielder Ali Kueller, junior midfielder Ashley Fenton, senior forward Megan Biner, senior forward Madison Danek, junior midfielder Rachel Didier and Olsen round out the Wolves’ attack.

Senior goalkeeper Kyli Humm has been a mainstay in the net for the past few years and has given up less than 10 goals this season.

“We had to replace a few players from last year, but all the juniors and sophomores really came in and stepped up right away,” Humm said. “Right from the first tournament of the season the soccer was top-notch. We were very cohesive as a team.”

Kehoe and Olsen, who are committed to Loyola and plan to be roommates, said that cohesiveness should carry the Wolves to their goal.

“For me, personally, I really want to do well because no one on our team has experienced [a regional title],” Olsen said. “We have the talent to do it, and we just need focus and play well.”

The winner of the Central regional will face the winner of the Grayslake Central regional in a Class 2A Lakes sectional semifinal at 4 p.m. May 25.

The Rams earned the top seed in their own regional, which includes No. 2 Grayslake North, No. 3 Vernon Hills and No. 4 North Chicago. Regional semifinals begin at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

The winner of the Lakes regional – which features the top-seeded Eagles, No. 2 Johnsburg, No. 3 Richmond-Burton and No. 4 Antioch – will face the winner of the Chicago Amundsen regional in the other Lakes sectional semifinal at 6 p.m. May 25.

The Skyhawks face the Rockets at 6 p.m. Tuesday in a regional semifinal.

In the Class 2A Marengo regional, top-seeded Hampshire will take on No. 4 Woodstock at 4 p.m. Tuesday while No. 2 Marian Central faces No. 3 Marengo at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

The regional winner will advance to the Hampshire sectional and face the winner of the Belvidere regional at 6 p.m. on May 25.