Thirty days in the hole. That’s what Glenbrook South’s wait to play rival Glenbrook North must have felt like.

Thirty days after South lost its annual Thanksgiving Eve game against North 5-4, the Titans climbed out of that hole and evened the score, winning 5-2 on Wednesday in Northbrook.

North mounted one of the rivalry’s great comebacks in their first meeting, recovering from a 4-1 deficit with three goals in the third period, before winning in a shootout that stung Glenbrook South.

So motivation heading into the rematch wasn’t hard for Glenbrook South to come by.

“The message was that we know we’re a good team and we know we deserved that one,” Glenbrook South captain Zack Freimuth said of the loss in November. “We outplayed them for two periods in that game so the message tonight was ‘outplay them for three’. That’s hard against a team like GBN that never goes away.”

South coach Jimmy Philbin and his coaching staff didn’t need to say much of anything to motivate their squad for the rematch.

“Three periods of hockey, right?” Philbin said. “Last time we were flying high and (faltered). We didn’t pass the puck on a 2-on-0 that might have made it 5-1, and instead it turns into a 5-4 loss in overtime. But you learn and they’re kids. North’s good, we’re good, and it’s a great rivalry. It’s nice to win going into the (Christmas) break.”

The season’s bragging rights will have to wait until Jan. 24, when the deciding game of the best-of-three season series will be played.

On a night in Northbrook celebrating 50 years of Glenbrook North hockey, the host Spartans (16-7-0 in SHL play) came out firing, outshooting the Titans (13-5-0) 10-1 through the game’s first 11 minutes.

It was a 2-on-1 rush the other way that tipped the game to Glenbrook South. With Nick Ventura barreling in up the right side and Will Stevens on the left, Ventura held the puck before firing a shot to the short-side upper ninety from point-blank range.

Ventura’s goal was a bitter pill to swallow for the Spartans.

“We had shots and we started off good but I think their first goal kind of took the air out of our tires,” North captain Ryan Sandler said. “We felt like we were all over them and it was a matter of time before we popped one, but instead they popped one and it was a momentum-killer.”

Ventura’s goal came with less than six minutes left in the first period. GBS went up 2-0 less than three minutes later when Pierce Davidson cleaned up at the net on a shot taken by Frank Surna. It was the seventh SHL goal of the year for both Ventura and Davidson.

Playing without its leading scorer in Noah Masinter (12 goals, 15 assists), North needed somebody to step up. That’s when Riston Seigel raised his hand.

Siegel scored his fifth SHL goal of the year to cut the Spartans’ deficit to 2-1, early in the second period. From the right side along the boards, Sandler centered a pass to a streaking Anthony Rafalowski, who tapped it over to the far post where Siegel buried it.

But the Titans regained a two-goal lead less than a minute later on a power-play goal from Wyatt Sherwood. GBS’ power play leads the SHL this year and it didn’t waste much time before capitalizing on its first power play chance of the game.

Just 10 seconds into that power play, Sherwood took a few touches ahead on the left side and ripped a low shot that found pay-dirt, giving him his 10th SHL goal of the year.

On a night when Freimuth felt as though he didn’t play particularly well, he tipped his hat in the right direction.

“My linemates picked me up,” Freimuth said. “Sherwood and (Blake) Hoffer had a great night each and we need guys like that. They’re unbelievable and they do the job.”

The last 15 minutes of the second period saw each team put eight shots on net apiece but another goal didn’t materialize.

GBN kept punching. The Spartans shortened their deficit to one goal yet again, when Logan Lyons scored his 6th SHL goal at the start of the third period. At the net, Lyons got his stick on a Charlie Rosen shot taken from the high slot, tipping it home to cut GBS’ lead to 3-2.

“They’re the Comeback Kids, year after year,” Freimuth said of North. “Playing against a team like that is tough because you know they’re going to give it their all, every single shift.”

Arguably the game’s most pivotal goal arrived with only four minutes remaining in the game, and the men responsible were GBS’s Hoffer and Marty McAuley.

Hoffer took a puck behind the net from the right side and backhanded a centering pass that  deflected out front, where McAuley took a swipe at it from mid-slot at the top of the circles, for his fifth league goal this year.

McAuley also has 19 assists this season and his 24 points has him currently sitting 9th in SHL scoring. The only other defenseman in the SHL’s top 30 in scoring is New Trier’s Christian Randle, whose 17 points has him 29th on the list.

McAuley’s 19 assists have him tied for the team lead with Freimuth, who leads the SHL in points with 37. The 19 assists from the two GBS stars are second in the league only to Loyola’s Charlie Baine, who has 23.

McAuley’s contribution to South’s season can’t be overstated.

“He’s been outstanding, one of the best defensemen in the state,” Philbin said. “He’s great. He’s really good puck-handling, control, doesn’t make the big mistake and he’s dependable in all situations.”

Freimuth agrees.

“(McAuley) brings so much,” he said. “He’s that modern-day defenseman that just gets active in the offensive zone. He’s unbelievable at finding lanes and getting shots through, and getting pucks to the net. He’s incredible and not to mention the back-end. He’s a unit back there. He’s amazing.”

Chasing a two-goal deficit with only four minutes remaining, GBN was unable to mount a second-straight comeback against GBS. With North goalie Michael Reyderman pulled late, Hoffer planted his eighth SHL goal of the year into an empty net with 1:25 remaining.

Philbin also pointed to Sherwood, Ventura, and Will Stevens for their efforts on both Wednesday and all season long. North coach Evan Poulakidas added a player to that list.

“I thought their goalie played great,” Poulakidas said of South’s Eli Kamins. “But this (loss) stings. It stings a lot. Now we’ll take a break, the playoffs are around the corner, and hopefully we get Masinter back because he generates a ton of offense for us.”

Sandler would have liked to see his side make a few adjustments on Wednesday.

“I think we could have played a little faster and gone harder on fifty-fifty pucks,” Sandler said. “I think that was the difference in the game, really. I think all of their goals came off lost fifty-fifty pucks.”

Both Sandler and Freimuth also want to see their teams gain consistency in putting three full periods on the ice.

Freimuth also likes the growth he has seen this season from the Titans.

“It’s been shots on net. We’ve had speed all year but driving outside to the net was our problem,” Freimuth said. “But we’ve been able to get a lot of shots recently, crashing net hard, and guys are burying them. Statistically I think we’re the best offense in the state right now, so as long as we do our job defensively and take care of our zone first, we know our offense can get it done.”

In celebration of Glenbrook North’s 50th year as a hockey program, Poulakidas took the ice for a pre-game speech that honored coaches, parents, and players past and present for their contributions to the Spartans’ program.

The final words of the speech from the GBN coach and president of the SHL spoke to the straw that stirs the drink at North, and likely applies to every great program:

“It’s the players,” Poulakidas said. “It’s an understanding and responsibility that when you put this jersey over your head, you’re expected to play at a high level…and to have the understanding that together, nothing is impossible. That is who we are. That’s the Spartan Way.

“It has been the honor of a lifetime to lead this program, to see its providence in the hockey community continue to rise, and to be able to have shared so many great moments with these young men, and to see them grow into wonderful human beings.”