GA_032218

38 | March 22, 2018 | The glencoe anchor Sports
glencoeanchor.com
Loyola Gold advances to state final with close win
Gary Larsen
Freelance reporter
Loyola Academy’s
hockey team raucously
crowded its way into to its
locker room at the Edge
Ice Arena in Bensenville,
carried by the euphoria of
a 2-1 win over Glenbrook
North in a state semifinal
game.
The Ramblers are going
to the United Center
to play in a state title game
for the first time since
2010.
“It’s a dream,” Loyola
forward Brock Huber said.
“Ever since I was little it’s
what I’ve wanted to do.
It’s just a dream.”
Huber’s goal at the
buzzer to end the second
period, on a 2-on-1 feed
from Daniel Stevens,
broke a 1-1 tie and stood
up as the game-winner on
March 12. Loyola next
takes on Stevenson in the
state title game on March
24.
Stevens scored the
game’s first goal on a Huber
assist in the first period,
and the Spartans tied
the game in the second on
a Kevin Koren goal and
assists from David Rubin
and Jacob Crane.
Since Loyola Gold won
a state title in 1996, the
program has finished second
in Illinois seven times
and hasn’t been in the title
game since 2010.
Ramblers coach DJ La-
Varre was there for every
one of those state finals,
so he knows how special
it is for a team to get that
chance.
“It’s just a great accomplishment
for those kids in
the locker room,” LaVarre
said. “It’s that experience
that you really want these
kids to enjoy, to have an
opportunity to play where
they see their legends play,
at the United Center.
“I’m just so happy that
they get to experience this.
It’s the opportunity of a
lifetime.”
Fifty feet down the hall
from the Ramblers’ celebration,
Glenbrook North
was dealing with the pain
that comes with every
postseason loss.
“I talked with the guys
and I thought we played
all 51 minutes tonight,”
Loyola Gold forward Daniel Stevens had a goal and an
assist in the Ramblers’ win over Glenbrook North on
March 12 in Bensenville. Gary Larsen/22nd Century Media
Rubin said. “That’s all
you can ask. There’s some
tears in the locker room
and not because of how
we played, but mostly because
we’ve been together
so long and we’re not going
to see each other in this
setting again.”
Glenbrook North was
the only team to win twice
against Loyola Gold,
which won five of their
seven meetings this year.
The Ramblers scored with
6:32 left in the first period
on Tuesday and the Spartans
tied the game early in
the second period.
The game’s most exciting
goal came in the
waning seconds of the
second period, when Stevens
swept up the left side
with the puck and crossed
a pass to Huber near the
goalmouth.
“(Stevens) put it in a
great spot,” Huber said,
“And I just put it in.”
Spartans goalie Tyler
Laarveld shined throughout
and finished with 36
saves, while Ramblers
goalie Hugh Brady made
14 saves in the win as
Loyola held firm throughout
the third period.
PLUMBING MADNESS!
Afterwards, LaVarre
emerged from the locker
room carrying a replica of
a prize-fight belt, which in
team tradition is typically
handed from one playerof-the-game
winner to the
next.
After Tuesday’s win,
previous belt holder Jack
Purcell awarded the belt to
LaVarre.
“The team played well
but (LaVarre) hasn’t been
there in a while, so that’s
special,” Huber said.
The Ramblers will play
a Stevenson team that won
3-2 over Glenbrook South
in Tuesday’s first semifinal.
“They play strong, hard,
aggressive hockey,” La-
Varre said of Stevenson.
“I think we have the type
of team that can play any
style … so it’s going to be
an interesting match. But
it’s all about getting the
kids to enjoy the moment.”
Glenbrook North will
bid farewell to 11 seniors
from this year’s team in
Rubin, Crane, Koren,
Laarveld, Cole Chobak,
Evan Larson, Jake Silverman,
Justin Ho, Zach Samuelsohn,
Zach Walden, and
Henry Fitzgerald.
“The end of a year is
never easy,” Poulakidas
said. “I’m saying goodbye
to some kids that I’ve been
coaching for twelve years,
so I’ll never see them in
this light again. We spent
285 days together. That’s a
lot of days.
“They’re not ordinary
kids. Look at today’s
world and what they could
be doing instead of playing
hockey, and sacrificing, is
so much easier than what
they come out and put
themselves through. We’re
very appreciative of our
kids. We care about them.”
Rubin was named
AHAI’s player of the year
in Illinois and he’ll miss
lacing up his skates for the
Spartans.
“It’s over now and we
have to live with it,” Rubin
said, “but we won fiftysix
games, we won three
tournaments, and those are
things we can take away
from this season. It would
have been nice to play
at the United Center but
there’s nothing for us to be
ashamed of at all.”
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