Boys Hockey: Spartans blank New Trier Blue in Scholastic Cup opener
BY TODD SHIELDS tshields@pioneerlocal.com January 31, 2012 12:06PM
1/28/12. Northbrook. Glenbrook North's Ben Stein races toward the New Trier goal while being checked from behind by New Trier's Chase Berlinghof (62, foreground) and Jack Fitzpatrick (behind). Glenbrook North defeated New Trier Blue 3-0 in the Scholastic Cup playoffs at the Northbrook Sports Center. | Tracy Allen~for Sun-Times Media
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Updated: March 3, 2012 8:16AM
Extending an unbeaten conference season, Glenbrook North blanked New Trier Blue Saturday night 3-0 to begin the Scholastic Cup Playoffs.
Though New Trier (14-24-5) recorded far more shots on goal (26-16), the Spartans’ goalie fended off several dead-on attempts with good defensive help in Northbrook.
“We could not have won the game with just me playing well. We all did,” said goalie Griffin Peifer.
“I focused more because it was the first playoff game for us. We all came ready, and my teammates scoring in the second period gave me confidence.”
The Spartans won the Metro North at 17-0-3 and improved to 32-13-8 overall.
Spartan defenseman Maxwell Gerber quickly changed the slow pace with a goal at 11:41 in the second period, followed by another score at 10:32 when forward Ryan Slovis deflected Parker Roth’s sharp slap shot into the New Trier net.
The Spartans closed out the scoring after New Trier pulled its goalie late in the third.
The game progressed into an uptempo contest as both teams passed sharper and checked harder, especially in front of the nets.
New Trier coach Rob Malstrom said his Blue team played competitively, but failed to turn chances into points.
“We’ve worked very hard all season because we’re not the best in the conference. We’ve failed a lot this year to convert opportunities,” he said of his sixth-place club. “But we started out 5-0.”
Spartans forward Garrison Sanipass said his team needed improvement to survive the Scholastic Cup games.
“They out-shot us, but we picked it up in second period. Because these are the playoffs, there are no easy games for the rest of year,” he said.
The Spartans were hit with eight penalties — a concern for assistant coach Paul Gauger. Twice the Spartans had two players in the penalty box.
“Penalties kept us from getting into a good flow. Killing them makes it hard to get going,” he said. “You get real tired killing penalties with two men down.
“This was not one of our best games, but we still won and that’s a good sign. Griffin played great and kept us in the game with big saves.”
Blue co-captain Mikey Yablong also said his team had good opportunities throughout the game.
“We just couldn’t bury the rebounds. We took the body hits and we hit them, and we kept working hard the whole game,” he said.
“We play a simple, hard game, but we needed to put pucks in the net and bury rebounds. We we’re not able to do that tonight.”
Glenbrook North meets Glenbrook South (17-13-3) at 7:50 p.m. Saturday at Northbrook Sports Center. The Titans advanced by defeating St. Viator on Saturday, 3-2.
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