Senior captain Ryan Sandler won’t forget Glenbrook North’s 3-1 home win Wednesday night, October 4 against Saint Ignatius.

At the end of the first shift of the game, less than one minute into the 17-minute first period, Sandler was whistled for a 2-minute elbowing penalty. He then was assessed a 10-minute misconduct for a comment to the referee that, he admitted, was “no swear words, all PG, but enough to sit me in the box (for 12 minutes total).”

GBN head coach Evan Poulakidas gave Sandler the silent treatment, said the third-year varsity forward who added, “when he doesn’t say anything to you, that sometimes is worse than when he yells at you.”

Sandler redeemed himself and revived the Spartans, scoring GBN’s first two goals and assisting on the final tally of the night as Glenbrook North celebrated the 3-1 come-from-behind win.

“This was not the prettiest, but a win’s a win – and we’ll take it every time,” Sandler said. “We have to focus on getting better starts. Our kryptonite is starting slow; we need to clean that up.

“Sitting out the first period was frustrating as ever.”

Saint Ignatius was dominant in the first period, outshooting the Spartans 9-1 and ultimately leading 1-0.

Austin Haynes scored his first Scholastic League goal of the season at 10:26 after a Charles Reif shot from the point landed behind the net and Michael Hollub brought it back in front of GBN goalie Michael Reyderman.

“It was a nice greasy goal on the powerplay,” Haynes said. “Hollub had a nice dish to the front (of the net) and I just cleaned up the scraps, getting us on the board early, which is what we always want to do.”

Both teams had second-period scoring chances, but neither converted. Ryan Rossi had a pointblank shot for the Spartans less than two minutes into the second that was stopped by Ethan Laughlin. Jackson Steinlauf, on a counterattack at 13:39, was stopped from the right side by Reyderman. Laughlin late in the second stopped a backhander from Cooper Shalin from an odd angle on the left side.

“I thought we had a good first and second (period), but let off the gas in the third, which let them get back in the game,” Haynes said. “We made some flukey plays that they capitalized on. The difference was focus. In the third, we were lackadaisical and that allowed them to come back and win the game.”

The Wolfpack opened the third with a :54 powerplay but weren’t even able to get the puck deep in the offensive zone, which Saint Ignatius head coach Spencer Montgomery simply tagged as, “a wasted opportunity.”

At 15:32 of the third, Sandler struck, converting on a near breakaway off a feed from Noah Masinter. “I was screaming for it; he flipped it to me over the guy’s stick, and I knew I had to get rid of it (quickly). I saw an opening and shot it, far side low … the puck did the rest of the work.

“That couldn’t have happened without Masinter.”

Sandler scored the game-winner with 4:20 remaining, converting off a Wolfpack turnover in their defensive end.

“To give up that goal, we have to be more disciplined,” Montgomery said. “We cannot be casual when you’re the last man with the puck. That cost us majorly; it was a terrible giveaway that cannot happen.

“I was frustrated (after the game) and told the guys that. It was a blown opportunity, but also a learning lesson and the good thing is, it’s not March. We have to learn how to be closers.

We had a 1-0 lead in a game that I thought we out-played them, out-chanced them, and then to kind of hand it over to them is disappointing.”

After the Wolfpack defenseman fumbled the puck to Sandler, the Spartan hero admitted he “whiffed it a little; I didn’t get everything on it … luckily I still got it to where I aimed.”

Sandler said his night at the Northbrook Sports Complex “ranks pretty high for me.”

“I’ve had some good moments, some game-winners, but this one felt good, especially the first big (personal) game of my senior year,” he said.

Masinter iced the win for GBN with an empty-net tally at :53, assisted by Sandler and Logan Lyons.

The Spartans move to 2-0 in SHL action and next face Loyola Gold in Lincolnwood on Saturday, October 7, starting at 6:10 p.m. The Wolfpack fall to 3-2 and now have three consecutive home games at Fifth Third Arena in Chicago: Lake Forest on October 7, York on October 8 and GBN once again on October 12.

“This is how we’ll win a lot of games: we won’t give up a lot,” Poulakidas said. “We’re a little challenged offensively – to finish, not to create. We have to get our powerplay on track. We had looks today but didn’t finish.

“We didn’t practice well (Tuesday) night and I was worried. We came out and gave away the first period. That’s what got me nervous. We were lethargic last night in practice, and that’s how we played the first period.”