North Whips South in Annual Thanksgiving Hockey Game

It took Glenbrook North a period to get going, but once the Spartans started rolling there wasn’t much Glenbrook South could do to stop them.

Glenview Ice Center filled up long before the puck dropped, but only the visiting fans had much to cheer about. After a scoreless first period the Spartans ran away with the annual day before Thanksgiving rivalry game to pick up a 6-0 win over the host Titans.

Junior Ryan Maksimovic broke the deadlock with 11:59 left in the second period and assisted on the second goal to seize control for the Spartans. Eric Anderson and Garrison Sanipass each scored a pair of goals and John Gauger netted one.

“I wasn’t really expecting that big of a win, but I mean it was awesome,” Maksimovic said. “I put in the first goal and after that we just kept rolling.”

Maksimovic was in front of the goal when the puck sat loose in the crease. He stuffed it in to get North on the board. He called it his biggest goal of the year.

“Truthfully I was really nervous right when the puck skirted out,” he said. “I put it in and I got so pumped.”

After North killed off a pair of Titan power plays, Maksimovic found Eric Anderson with a centering pass for a 2-0 lead.

Sanipass finished off the period with a shorthanded goal with less than a minute remaining. The Spartans spent most of the period down a man, but were able to kill off four power plays. South went 0-5 on the power play for the game.

“We should have buried our opportunities on the power play and we didn’t,” GBS coach Jim Philbin said. “That’s the turning point in the game.”

Gauger made it 4-0 on an assist from sophomore Nick Day at 10:46 and less than a minute later Sanipass scored his second. Anderson’s second goal closed out the scoring with 7:02 left.

Spartans goalie Griffin Peifer made 20 saves for the shutout. Titans seniors Reid McMahon and John O’Keefe combined for 24 saves in the losing effort.

“He didn’t have to make a heck of a lot of stops, but the ones that he did make he came up big in some key situations,” GBN assistant coach Paul Gauger said of Peifer. Gauger is in charge of the Spartans while head coach Evan Poulakidas recovers from a successful prostate cancer surgery.

South senior James Philbin entered the game as the leading scorer in Metro North play with 15 goals and 11 assists in 11 games, but North shut him and linemate Billy Savino (9 goals and 10 assists) down.

After the game both coaches said depth was the difference. The Spartans wore the Titans out later in the game.

“These guys play three lines the same, there’s nothing different about them,” Philbin said of the Spartans.

The Titans (8-5-2, 6-4-2 Metro North) sold T-shirts leading up to the game to support the Northfield Township Food Pantry. Before the game they presented a check worth $1,500.

GBN (17-6-4, 11-0-1) is riding a 12-game unbeaten streak and has a firm lead in the conference.

“It’s definitely because we have so much depth on our team,” Sanipass said. “Every line works together perfectly and we all love playing with each other.”

Both teams have busy weekends ahead with Thanksgiving tournaments. The Spartans play in Buffalo Grove, starting Friday against Marian (IN). The Titans go to Wilmette and play Barrington Thursday at 10 a.m.