A team never knows when a pivotal stretch of play might arise to effectively decide a game. With host Loyola leading Glenbrook South 2-1 after a period of play on Sunday, one of those deciding stretches of play took center stage.

It propelled Loyola to a 5-1 victory and was built on the grit and effort needed in one key area.

“The forecheck,” Loyola’s Cole Joubert said. “Once we get the puck in deep and start forechecking and working our offense, that’s how we wear teams down and bury them.”

First-period goals from Loyola’s Peter Lochnicki and Tyler Lawriw and one from Glenbrook South’s Wyatt Sherwood seemingly set the stage for a barnburner between two of the SHL’s top teams in Wilmette.

But that’s when Loyola Gold got down into the trenches, scoring three goals in a six-minute span of the second period.

“The second period was tough getting pucks out of the zone,” Glenbrook South coach Jim Philbin said. “We didn’t clear it, turned it over, and let them get behind us. The second period told the story of the game. They did the little things and we let them do it. We fell asleep mentally and you can’t have that happen.”

Loyola had Glenbrook South pinned in its defensive zone for a solid minute of play early in the second period when William Finegan netted his sixth goal in eight SHL games, from point-blank range. Charlie Baine assisted on the goal that gave Gold a 3-1 lead and a firm grip on the game’s steering wheel.

Four minutes later, Joubert was involved in an exchange that led to a 4-1 Loyola lead. It began when he fired a shot that went bar-down near the 8-minute mark. Joubert was celebrating with teammates when the official behind the net waved the goal off.

“I thought it went in but it must have hit the bar and stuck behind the goalie,” Joubert said. “I thought it was totally in and didn’t think there was any way they were calling that off. But it hit the bar and must have stayed out.”

Joubert’s redemption came less than one minute later when he buried a rebound to put Loyola up 4-1.

“That one was a good blast from (Charlie) Merrill,” Joubert said. “I kind of dragged it back, the goalie went down, and I just put it in. That felt pretty good after having one called back like that.”

Loyola’s 4-1 lead only held for another two minutes. John Dwyer recently returned to the team after playing sophomore football for Loyola, and his unassisted goal finished the day’s scoring.

To be sure, the game’s first two goals involved some puck luck for Loyola. Lochnicki fired a shot from the left side in the game’s third minute that South goalie Eli Kamins turned away, but a South defenseman inadvertently knocked the rebound into the net to give Loyola a 1-0 lead.

Lawriw’s goal ultimately stood up as the game-winner, a shot from the point on the left side in the fifth minute of play. It was a classic ‘puck with eyes’ that hugged the ice and somehow found its way through a crowd before tucking itself inside the far post.

“We had a little puck luck early with the first goal or two but the last few games we struggled a bit — the pucks haven’t been going in, especially in the Saint Ignatius game (a 1-0 loss),” Ciraulo said. “So I feel like it was our time to get a few bounces to go our way. And then we kind of earned it with our forecheck today.”

The first period saw the lion’s share of dangerous shots put on frame for both teams. The teams ultimately tied 28-28 in shots for the game, per SHL stats, but of those 56 total shots, 27 of them were taken in the first 17 minutes.

Loyola’s 15-12 edge in the first period included Charlie Baine walking in on the right side for a good look on net, with Kamins turning him away. Kamins turned Finegan away in the ninth minute and saved a Lochnicki shot from the left side 30 seconds later.

Glenbrook South’s Asher Vander Ploeg found a shot on the left side that Loyola goalie Charlie Trapp turned away at 10 minutes. South began finding its front foot and three minutes later, Sherwood buried a shot to the upper ninety ,from the inside of the circle on the left side after South won a draw at 11 minutes.

A handful of scoring chances both ways marked the final six minutes of the first period, to no avail.

Loyola killed a penalty that straddled the end of the first and the beginning of the second period. That’s when the Ramblers set up shop on South’s end and went on the three-goal scoring binge that decided the game.

Both teams went into Sunday’s game on the heels of dominant wins on Saturday; Loyola won 6-0 over Carmel while GBS won 6-0 over Fenwick.

“We played last night and I think we were too happy with ourselves,” Philbin said. “Loyola came out hard. They played hard and I give them all the credit. They played the dump game, threw pucks to the net, and picked up guys in front, and we had to match their tempo and increase our speed.”

Despite the loss, South didn’t go without some strong performances.

“I thought Benji Pajerski played pretty well,” Philbin said. “His line played well and had a good night last night. They had a rough weekend last weekend so they responded well and played a decent game. I thought Ryan Mulvey had a great game and he’s always steady back there and Marty (McAuley) had a good game. Those guys did their jobs but we have to be better.”

Loyola’s Charlie Trapp continued his solid freshman year as a varsity goaltender, improving to 4-1-1 in SHL play with 151 saves in six games. Finegan’s goal gave him a team-leading six in SHL play, Lochnicki and Baine have 5 goals apiece, and Baine’s 7 assists have him leading the team in points with 12.

Ciraulo was happy with his boys’ team-wide effort, and defenseman Mack Klein shined particularly bright on Sunday.

“(Klein) was really good defensively,” Ciraulo said. “He played so well that we ended up matching him up against their top line. He was a good player for us last year and now he’s really getting comfortable. Defensively, he’s just been really solid and he has some offensive ability, too. He’s been a really nice player for us.”

And ultimately, Gold’s forecheck carried the day.

“Energy is always the big thing. When we have a lot of energy on the bench and in the stands, we’ll get it going,” Joubert said. “Otherwise we have to build our own energy to get in there sometimes. 

“Today we had great energy and we played well this weekend. We put up eleven goals and let up one. We have a lot of offensive talent so if those floodgates keep staying open, we’ll be okay.”