PRAIRE RIDGE 1 vs USM 2

     Like a crème brûlée, victory tastes sweet.  For playing sound, conscientious hockey for most of the game, University School received its just deserts as the Wildcats defeated Prairie Ridge High School from Illinois 2-1 in the first round of the Paul Meyer Memorial Tournament at USM Friday night.

     USM scored its first goal in the game’s first 54 seconds. Sophomore Nathan Burke shot the puck deep into the Prairie Ridge zone. His classmate Ashton Wackym raced into the left corner, got the puck, and whipped it up along the boards. Battling for it on the mid-baords, sophomore Kenny Servis won control of the puck, stepped into the circle, and immediately fired a shot over the blocker of astonished senior goalie Cory Simons.

     USM stuck to its game plan for the remainder of the period.  The Wildcats frequently got the puck in the Wolves end and put 8 more shots on Simons but were unable to score.  In the USM end, junior goaltender Ben Myers saved all 6 shots that Prairie Ridge took in the period, and his teammates tempered any threats by clearing rebounds efficiently.

      The second period was scoreless as Simons and Myers held sway.

      USM moved further ahead early in the third period.  Junior defenseman Zach Hafeman gathered up a loose puck in center ice and sprinted into the Prairie Ridge zone along the right boards. Hafeman flipped the puck across to senior Alex Tesensky who was steaming down the slot.  Tesensky received the pass, did a spinarama to avoid a defenseman, and released a low backhander that went between Simons’ legs at 3:23. 

     Because USM had received a misconduct penalty late in the second period, its line combinations became discombobulated early in the third. Consequent confusion during a line change gave the Wolves several seconds to skate 5 on 4 and resulted in their sole goal of the evening.  Senior defenseman Johnny Pottala intercepted a USM clearing pass at the USM blue line.  He sent the puck across the line to sophomore Matt Krammen.  Unopposed, Krammen skated into the left circle and blasted a shot through a screen past Myers at 3:50.

     Despite this one lapse, the Wildcats were hungry for a win.  They kept their heads and prevented Prairie Ridge from cooking up any more serious scoring chances.  As the game neared its end, the Wildcats used every opportunity to dump the puck deep into the Prairie Ridge zone, preventing the Wolves from pulling Simons for an extra attacker, and eventually sealing the victory.

     In the game Simon made 26 saves and Myers made 16.

     Prairie Ridge will play in the tournament consolation game at 3:00 on Saturday against the Germantown Co-op team.  Now 3-5-2, USM moves into the championship game.  At 5:00 on Saturday, the Wildcats will face the Catholic Memorial Pius Co-op team, which defeated Germantown Co-op 5-2 in the other first round game of the tournament.