It was only the third win of the season for Prior Lake, but a hurricane of noise filled the hallway underneath the Dakotah! Ice Center. 

It could have been the happy whoops from the Lakers’ dressing room, or it could have been the musical stylings of Post Malone’s “Congratulations,” because within minutes of exiting the ice the song’s booming bass crashed off the brick walls and rubber floor. 

Either way, the storm of sound passed, and the Lakers emerged from Thursday night with a solid 4-3 win over South Suburban Conference rival Lakeville North. 

“We’ll let ‘em enjoy it,” Prior Lake head coach Joe Pankratz said after the win of his team’s jubilation. “It’s been a tough start.”

The Lakers feature a roster with 16 upperclassmen, but only a small handful that was ingrained in the Lakers’ varsity last season. 

“We really only have three or four guys who played significant minutes for varsity last year,” Pankratz explained, adding that the Lakers recently graduated a class of varsity veterans.

Lack of experience aside, the Lakers jumped out to a 3-1 lead over the Panthers in the opening period, with junior defenseman Ty Trachsel and junior forward and Colorado College commit Jackson Jutting tallying goals. Lakeville North’s Carson Sandwick, a senior forward, would cut the Prior Lake lead in half before Kobe Kimmes extended the lead yet again for the Lakers.

The teams scored once each in the second frame, with Shane Griffin notching a goal for the Panthers (3-5-1, 3-2) and Curt Murphy answering for the Lakers. 

The Lakers (3-6, 2-4)) inadvertently went into a defensive shell with a two-goal lead late in the third, which Pankratz assured was not by design, but added that he understands the draw to play less aggressively.  

“I think that’s the tendency of athletes sometimes when they’re trying to protect a lead, especially with a bunch of young guys,” Pankratz said.

Lakeville North’s Ben Monson pulled the Panthers within one with just 4:02 to play in regulation, but Prior Lake netminder Ryan Miller stonewalled the Panthers for the remainder of the period.

Miller, a senior, finished the game with 33 saves for the Lakers.  

“He played great,” Pankratz said of Miller. 

“He made all the saves he needed to make, and he’s going to be a big part of our team going forward if we’re going to do some damage at the end of the year.”