NT_022218

48 | February 22, 2018 | The Northbrook tower sports
northbrooktower.com
Boys Hockey
North loses Game 2 but wins playoff series
Gary Larsen
Freelance Reporter
Holding a two-goal lead over
Glenbrook North, Glenbrook
South stayed on the bench rather
than retreat to the comfort of the
locker room as a zamboni cleaned
the ice between the second and
third periods.
The rationale? Stay cold and
stay in the game.
“It gets too warm in the locker
room and we wanted to stay focused,”
Titans coach Jim Philbin
said.
In the sixth meeting this season
between the Titans and Spartans,
Glenbrook South won 4-2 in the
second game of a best-of-three,
Scholastic Hockey League playoff
series played on Tuesday
night,
The Titans’ win tied the series
1-1, guaranteeing that the two rivals
will meet for a seventh time
this year.
“We never get tired of it,” Titans
goaltender Jamie Dziurdzik
said. “Everyone time we play
them, we get hyped. It’s the atmosphere
with the crowd and
there’s so much history between
North and South. So it’s fun to
play them every single time.
“The last couple weeks have
been a little rough and we haven’t
been able to close out some
games. So especially for our
team, this (win) was something
that we needed.”
Both teams knew that Tuesday’s
game would feature heated
play and rowdy fans in a playoff
atmosphere, but Spartans senior
Mikey Day saw his side lacking
a chief ingredient needed to meet
that challenge.
“Overall energy,” Day said. “It
was almost like we didn’t realize
the significance of the game until
we were in the locker room after
the second period, and realized
we were about to lose to South.”
Day scored both of North’s
goals while the Titans got two
goals from Thomas Lundal and
one apiece from Patrick Dillon
and Ben Thomas.
South led 1-0 after a period on
Lundal’s first goal, assisted by
Thomas and Connor Monagen.
Day tied the game early in the
second period on assists from David
Rubin and David Wilcox.
Less than 30 seconds passed
before Dillon put the Titans back
Glenbrook North and Glenbrook South players fight for the puck
in front of Glenbrook South goalie Jamie Dzuirdzik on Feb. 13 in
Glenview. Gary Larsen/22nd Century Media
up 2-1 on assists from Colin Garrett
and Theo Papalas, and Lundal
made it 3-1 with a power-play
goal mid-way through the second
period, on an assist from Nicolas
Botvinnik.
After two periods, the Titans
held a 24-18 edge in shots on goal
over the Spartans.
“In the defensive zone we
didn’t really pick up guys in
front,” Day said. “They were kind
of walking all over us. It was like
we were just watching them. But
we were also missing one of our
best players.”
Glenbrook North played without
veteran defenseman Tim
Burke due to illness.
Chasing a two-goal deficit, the
Spartans came out with increased
energy in the third period, and
finished the game with a 31-30
edge in shots on net.
With less than two minutes to
play in the game, Day scored on
a Glenbrook North power play
on assists from Rubin and Jacob
Crane, before Lundal clinched
the win for the Titans with an
empty-net goal with 37 seconds
remaining.
“The third period was a little
scary, especially with that penalty
at the end,” Dziurdzik said.
“They put one in but fortunately
we were able to close out the
game really well.”
“We hadn’t beaten North here
in our barn for a few years, so
that was nice,” Philbin said. “It’s
a good win and everyone played
pretty well, especially (Dziurdzik).
But I’m happy with all
three lines that played a lot, too.
They controlled the atmosphere
and when it came down to it defensively,
we kept the puck out of
the zone.”
The Titans and Spartans resumed
battle over the weekend,
where the Spartans defeated
the Titans 2-0 to take the series.
GBN plays Loyola Gold in
its next series.
swimming
From Page 50
records in winning the 500-yard
freestyle in 4:34.78 and the
100-yard backstroke in :51.36
and he swam the first leg for the
200-yard medley relay team that
rewrote the school record book
with a winning time of 1:34.57.
His collaborators in chronological
order were sophomore
Zander Johnson, junior Daniel
Kaufman and sophomore Tony
Mrozowski.
“It was an awesome meet for
all of us,” Purdy said. “I was really
happy with my backstroke
time (:23.29) in the 200-medley
relay.”
In addition to putting the
finishing touches on the 400-
yard freestyle relay team’s
first-place performance and
setting the school record in the
200-yard freestyle, Shapiro set
another school record when
he won the 100-yard freestyle
in :46.01.
“It was probably the hardest
two and a half months of my
life, especially winter break,”
Shapiro reflected in reviewing
his season. “We worked hard
and kept our heads in the game
and it all paid off today as the
results showed and as the clock
showed. It was a fantastic day.”
After helping set a school record
with the triumphant 100-
yard medley relay team in the
first event, Kaufman set an individual
school record in the next
to last event, finishing third in
the 100-yard breaststroke with a
time of :57.84 that easily qualified
him for the State meet.
Although the Spartans’ 200-
yard freestyle relay team of
Kaufman, Mrozowski, JuJescu
and Shapiro didn’t set a school
record, the foursome became
State championship qualifiers
with a third-place finish in
1:27.11. JuJescu came in fourth
in the 200-yard freestyle but
made the cut for the State meet
with a 1:43.76 clocking.
Glenbrook South’s second
place individuals were freshman
Max Iida in the 200-yard individual
medley and 100-yard breaststroke,
sophomore Elliot Chen in
the 500-yard freestyle and fellow
sophomore Hadjiianov in the
100-yard backstroke.
Iida said he was “a little nervous
coming in—not only
me but some of the rest of the
guys—but after my first swim I
felt really good, a lot more comfortable
with the situation.”
Qualifying by virtue of their
third place efforts were Chen in
the 200-yard freestyle, freshman
Quinn Loughran in the 100-yard
butterfly and the 500-yard freestyle,
Hadjiivanov in the 100-
yard freestyle.
Sophomore Adam Zuiker
made the qualifying grade with
a fourth in the 100-yard butterfly
and junior Cameron Schulte did
it with a fourth in the 100-yard
breakstroke.
Hadjiivanov partnered with
Zuiker, Schulte and senior Nick
Shectman for a second in the
200-yard medley relay; Zuiker,
Iida, Shectman and Chen were
the members of the second place
200-yard freestyle relay team;
and Chen, Loughran, Zuiker and
Hadjiivanov got the Titans the
second in the 400-yard freestyle
relay.
“Elliot Chen has been quietly
terrific all year long,” MacDonald
said. “Nick Shectman has
been a great leader this year and
we’ll miss him (after he graduates
in the spring) but our big
dogs are all coming back.”
“Next year is going to be
exciting,” predicted the GBS
coach, “But right now we’re
just focusing on the state meet at
Evanston.”