P-R moves on in state tourney

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CRYSTAL LAKE – Prairie Ridge needed something to ease the tension.

After two periods in which the No. 8-seeded Wolves played mostly on No. 25 Gurnee Warren’s end, they led by only one goal in their AHAI/Blackhawk Cup Red Division State Tournament game.

Center Mike Kurek scored 11 seconds into the third period, giving the Wolves some momentum and an extra cushion as they defeated the Blue Devils, 3-1, on Sunday night at the Crystal Ice House.

“That got the team totally energized,” left wing Matt Krammen said. “We were totally energized after that. We were pumped up and ready to keep playing hard.”

Prairie Ridge (27-20-5) advances to the round of 16 and will meet the winner between No. 9 Barrington and No. 24 Naperville Central at 8:30 a.m. Sunday at The Edge in Bensenville.

“I took it wide [on the left side] and saw the goalie [Joe Thompson] cheating over,” Kurek said. “I think he thought I might pass to Christian Blatner in the middle, so I just threw it at the net, and it went off his skate and in. We went into the third period and had to get the momentum back, and that did it.”

Goalie Ryan Fichuk turned away 17 shots, with 12 in the third period, for the Wolves. The scoring problems, coach Rick Rewiako said, is nothing new.

“We’ve been having problems scoring goals,” Rewiako said. “We haven’t put the puck in the net a lot lately. When we score three or more goals, we’re something like 22-3. Our magic number seems to be three. We were in a little funk two weeks ago, but we played really well last weekend at Cleveland, where we saw three of the top five-rated teams in Ohio.”

The Wolves constantly kept pressure on Warren (12-22-8), but could not get much in the way of goals. Late in the first period, defenseman Andrew Sprouse fired the puck off the back board, and it fluttered past Thompson on the carom. Seamus Kelly was there to tap it in.

Early in the second period, Zach Fanning fired a hard, low shot and Krammen followed him in to score on the rebound.

“We were having a little trouble putting the puck in the back of the net,” Krammen said. “Coach told Zach to shoot, and the rebound came right back to me.”

Austin Hall’s power-play goal late in the second caused a few anxious moments with Prairie Ridge fans, who were out in full force for a rare home game. The Wolves are playing their second season with an independent schedule and have played only a few games this season at the Ice House.

Thompson finished with 26 saves for the Blue Devils. Warren coach Adam Antell was extremely proud of the game his team played.

“We brought it,” Antell said. “A couple of bounces went their way, and we couldn’t get a couple in. I can’t speak enough for our senior leadership. I have 18 guys who won’t give you anything. Give credit to Prairie Ridge, though, when they had a chance, they put it in.”