York, carrying the No. 7 seed and the coming off the biggest upset so far in the 2024 Illinois High School Hockey State Tournament, is excited, confident and prepared for its semifinal game Friday night against No. 6 Saint Ignatius. The Dukes will be wearing the same black jerseys with green stars and stripes, just as they did in their elite eight round win over No. 2 Loyola Gold, 5-2.

            But York stands against No. 6 seed Saint Ignatius, an offensive powerhouse that defeated York in all three regular-season games between the two teams. There were two one-goal wins for the Wolfpack and a convincing 5-2 W last October.

            Drew Gami, a junior defenseman and the Dukes’ hero in their win over Loyola, is confident York is ready, rolling in the right direction. He didn’t hesitate or even pause for a second when asked what York would do for an encore in the semis.

            “Beat ‘em; that’s all we want, to go back to the United Center; that would be unbelievable,” said Gami, 16, in his first varsity season. “No one expects York to get to the United Center (for the state championship game on March 13), but when the state tournament (brackets) were posted, we liked what we saw; we liked the matchups that we were facing.

            “I’m feeling great. Team morale is at an all-time high. We will come ready.”

            The puck drops at 8:40 p.m., in Bensenville.

            “The key is, we have to get on them early, hopefully score early and shut down their main offensive players. They have three or four really good offensive players, so we have to shut them down – and I’m confident we will.”

            Ignatius (18-12 in the SHL regular season, 6th place) moved into the semifinals with an upset of their own, stopping No. 3 Glenbrook South, 4-1. The Wolfpack are anchored by junior Tiernan Ryan, who finished third in the SHL: 20 goals, 24 assists in 30 games. The team has four others who racked up 20 or more points in the 30-game regular season: Michael Hollub, Jackson Steinlauf, Austin Haynes, Charlie Reif and Colum Chinlund.

            Conversely, the Dukes did not have even one 20-point player in the SHL regular season.

            “Our gameplan is simple, get in (Ryan’s) way, let him know that we’re there, annoy him, get in his head,” said Gami, who played for the Chicago Blues organization before York.

            “I don’t think we’ve played our best games against Ignatius and I really hope they come in confident because we are going to shut that down quick; we’re playing the best hockey we’ve played all year. We can beat any team right now. I have full trust that we will beat Saint Ignatius.”

            In addition to the high-powered offense, the Wolfpack have a solid defense, anchored around Charlie Reif, named to the All-State Team. “I think their strong suit is their defense; they really shut it down (in the defensive end), so we have to get out ahead early, like we did against Loyola,” Gami said.

            York also boasts an All-State defenseman: Frank Rosa.

            Forward Nicholas Sanfilippo also was named All-State from York.

            “We had a good week of practice (for the Loyola game), probably our best week of practices. Going in, we wanted to score early, especially on a young goalie – and we kept building off that,” said Gami, who noted the Dukes had extensive film sessions to prepare for the Ramblers. They are doing the same for the Wolfpack.

            “One of our goals this year was to never give up, to keep pushing, even when things are not going our way.”

            The Dukes led 1-0 after the first period against Loyola on a Matthew Soehn goal and pushed it to 3-0 in the second. The Ramblers trailed 3-2 after two periods.

            Gami assisted Soehn’s game-opening goal and he also scored in the second.

“That (Loyola game) was the most nervous I’ve ever been for a game,” Gami said. “No one expected us to win, but with so many friends and family, people showing up to support York, we felt we had to win, that they expected us to win. They always believe in us.

“The fans got us going, even in warmups. They gave us a little extra motivation.

“I wanted to play a defensive game, especially against such a good offensive team that Loyola has. Our coaches told me, if I have the chance (offensively), go ahead and take it. I only had two, maybe three, (offensive) chances and I was just lucky enough to capitalize on them.”

Gami scored his second unassisted goal of the game at 10:18 of the third period, giving the Dukes a 4-2 edge – and it was Gami’s only multi-goal game of the season, a fact that hit him after his celebration when he returned to the bench.

“Beating Loyola was amazing,” said Gami, an offensive defenseman. “I love giving myself the chance to rush the puck, go coast to coast, find chances to bury (the puck).

“I was not that confident at the beginning of the season to rush the puck and I was struggling to score at the start of the year. That’s changed, especially of late.”

Gami has 15 goals and 13 assists in 43 games this season.

York finished 12-18 in the SHL regular season and stumbled into the state tournament. The Dukes lost their last five regular season games, then were swept by New Trier Green in the best-of-three SHL Playoffs.

The Wolfpack, meanwhile, won six of their last seven regular season games, including their last three. In the league playoffs, Ignatius needed three games to oust Glenbrook South before being swept by New Trier.

Ignatius won the last game against York, 3-2 in overtime on January 6 at Fifth Third Arena in Chicago on an Austin Haynes’ game-winning goal. The game was marred by a combined 19 penalties.

Gami will be the last York player out of the locker room Friday and the last Duke on the ice at the Edge Ice Arena – a superstition that he started in mid-December after the team defeated Glenbrook North and Loyola on consecutive nights.

Gami is a two-sport athlete at York as he also roams the outfield, usually center or right field, for the varsity baseball team. “Both (sports) help each other on the conditioning front,” Gami said, “and playing two sports helps me mentally, to balance things out.”

On Friday, Gami isn’t planning anything different. He will sleep as late as he can and arrive at school just in enough time to make it to his first class, starting at 7:40 a.m.

Classes end at 3:06 and Gami admitted it will be difficult to focus on classes. “It’s going to be a long day,” he said. Gami plans to drink a bottle of water every two periods to remain hydrated and avoid cramping during the game.

After school, his Friday ritual will remain the same: he will eat sushi as his pregame meal, opting for spicy salmon and spicy tuna. “I love sushi and feel like it gives me good luck,” he said.

Gami will arrive at the rink at least 90 minutes before the opening faceoff. He will tape his stick, then mentally prepare for the biggest game of his career.

It will be the biggest game for many, on both teams.