Red Devils top St. Ignatius on Krohn's OT goal
By Gary Larsen

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Hinsdale Central will play in a sectional semifinal game on Tuesday, but the path to get there was anything but easy.

After Kelly gave the Red Devils all they could handle in a regional semifinal win for Central, Class 3A regional host St. Ignatius erased a two-goal deficit and forced overtime before the Red Devils won 3-2 on an overtime goal from Mike Krohn.

“Those were two very difficult games against two very good teams,” Red Devils coach Mike Wiggins said. “I’m proud of the way our guys handled things. They’ve seen so many different game situation this season and they continue to show a lot of maturity and composure, and toughness. I couldn’t be more proud.

“The guys are playing hard for each other and it’s a really neat team. They’re incredibly coachable and hard-working, and when you’re a coach and you get a group like that, you call yourself very fortunate.”

The win set up a sectional semifinal game against West Suburban Silver rival Oak Park and River Forest, which upset defending state champion Morton 2-1 on Friday. The Red Devils won 2-1 over OPRF in their regular-season meeting on Sept. 25.

“It’ll be another great game,” Wiggins said. “We know that whoever you play in a sectional semifinal, it’s going to be a great game.”

The Red Devils built a 2-0 lead in their regional title game against St. Ignatius, on goals from Max Krohn and Christian Meyer. The host scored a goal before halftime and then tied the game in the second half to force overtime.

“We got a great contribution from Max Krohn on a goal assisted by Evan Floersch, about seven minutes in,” Wiggins said. “Then we put Christian Meyer in the game and he got the second goal about nineteen minutes in on an assist from Rigoberto Rojas.

St. Ignatius scored just before halftime and then again early in the second half to tie the game. After one of two mandatory overtime periods passed without a goal, Mike Krohn kept the contest shy of a shootout with his game-winner, when the senior got behind the defense and carried it in on goal. Rojas got his second assist of the game on the play.

The Red Devils have gotten rock-solid play all year from defenders Evan Floersch, Ryan Schwarz, and Ryan Melloni, and that play continued in the two games played at St. Ignatius. Harley Pranger got Friday’s nod in net, but keepers Philip Pielet and Mitchell Meyer have been invaluable to the Red Devils this season.

“I can’t say enough about our defenders. They are just incredibly dependable, relentless, hard-working, and athletic,” Wiggins said. “And obviously Christian coming in and getting his goal was big for us.

“We’ve also been very fortunate with the goalkeepers we’ve had this year. We continue to have goalkeepers at Hinsdale Central that are among the best around. Tonight Harley played, and he was strong in goal.”