The 4th-seeded Warriors Hockey Club looks to defend their Blackhawk Cup state title. The Warriors open up the tournament against 20th-seeded Plainfield. The winner moves on to play 5th-seeded Libertyville. This highlight is sponsored by BMO Harris Bank.
A strong start for the Warriors
Starting the game four minutes in. The puck slides into the path of Luke Peters whose hard slap shot finds the back of the net. 1-0 Warriors early on.
Not even a minute later Ryan Burk picks the puck up in front of the net and somehow the puck bobbles into the net. All of a sudden, it’s 2-0.
The Warriors continue to mount the pressure. Luke Peters passes off to Matt Shield who makes a move to get a shot on net but his effort is caught by Geremia Balice. The Warriors go into the second with a two-goal lead.
Plainfield scores twice in the second
Plainfield starts the second period strong. Anthony Obrochta passes backdoor to Logan Huegel who scores. The Predators score a minute into the second to cut the Warrior’s lead in half.
A couple of minutes later and Evan Ziegler goes blue line to blue line taking a shot on net, but his wrist shot is caught by Balice.
Ziegler continues to impress as he stick handles through the Predator defense getting a shot off and picking up the rebound is Joe Pijanowki restoring the Warriors two-goal advantage.
Predators looking for an instant response. Anthony Obrochta has a shot that is kicked aside by Jack Poidomani and shooting on the rebound is Alex Barlog who is also denied by Poidomani.
A minute to go in the second period now and Plainfield is on the power play. Nathan Brechtel gets the puck out in front and his point-blank shot goes in off of the post. We go into the third period with a one-goal game.
The Warriors avoid the upset
Just under six minutes into the third period. Anthony Obrochta carries the puck in alone and after a crazy bounce, the puck somehow ends up in the net. Just like that, we are tied at three.
Not even a minute later and the Warriors look for the go-ahead goal. Kyler Campfield has a shot from the point that is tipped by Joe Pijanowski but it hits the post.
4:10 to play in the third now. Finnegan O’Toole has a shot from the point that is saved by the pad of Balice and there for the rebound is Joe Pijanowski who slots it into the back of the net.
The Warriors avoid the upset, and the defending champs take down Plainfield by a score of 4-3. The Warriors will play Libertyville for a spot in the semifinals.
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