Loyola goaltender James Roche made 36 saves Saturday against Glenbrook South -- arguably the scariest offensive team in Illinois -- in a 7-3 Loyola win on South’s home ice, no less.

After Loyola Gold’s preseason team tryouts, that was an unlikely place for Roche to find himself.

“I didn’t originally make the team,” Roche said, “and now I’m just trying to do as much as I can to help the team out and fill my role.”

A preseason injury to goaltender Declan Smith had coach Scott Ciraulo calling Roche up to the big club and since then, the road Roche has traveled has been a study in perseverance.

Young hockey players take notice: when you get your chance, be ready to make it count.

“I’m really, really proud of (Roche),” Ciraulo said. “He’s a senior, he didn’t make our team, and that was one of the toughest decisions we made. But we tell our guys ‘don’t quit, stay in the program, keep fighting’. Then we got a bad injury to start the year, he steps in, and the way that he has battled through that adversity has been very admirable and impressive. 

“It’s a good message to anyone who maybe doesn’t make it the first crack — don’t quit, because you never know.”

A Charlie Merrill hat-trick, two goals from Charlie Baine, and one apiece from Liam Finegan and Mikey Baker provided the firepower that allowed Loyola (17-3-3) to beat Glenbrook South (13-5-1) for the third time in SHL play this season.

The Ramblers have outscored the Titans 17-4 in their three meetings this year — quite a feat against the likes of Zack Freimuth, Blake Hoffer, Marty McAuley and Wyatt Sherwood - four players that currently sit among the top 13 scorers in the SHL this year.

“We knew the key was keeping them off the rush because we know their top line is talented,” Merrill said. “You saw that tonight. They scored two goals off the rush. So we had to keep them in front of us.”

Glenbrook South came out in fifth gear in Glenview. The Titans earned a 13-6 edge in shots through 17 minutes and led 1-0 after a period on a Marty McAuley goal with 11:41 remaining. Wyatt Sherwood and Blake Hoffer assisted on the play.

“They came out flying and for us the message was, that we know they’re really good on the rush so don’t let them behind you,” Ciraulo said. “In the first period, we let them get behind us and that really helped their offense to sustain an attack.

“It took a little while but once we adjusted to that, I thought the game changed… we know how good the (Freimuth) line is and we asked our Liam (Finegan), (Charlie) Baine, and DJ (Long) line to shut them down. They struggled at first but then they came back in the second period and got two goals. So we were really happy with that.”

Merrill tied the game 1-1 with the first of his three goals, six minutes into the second period, getting his stick on a Sam Walker shot and re-directing it home.

GBS went up 2-1 on a Sherwood goal two minutes later, when Frank Surma sent a puck ahead to spring him behind the defense. The left-handed Sherwood swooped in, cut to his right and buried a his backhand. Matthew Vergamini also assisted on the goal.

Of course, top-ranked Loyola also has its share of players who can bury a puck. 

Baine has been vying with Freimuth for the scoring lead in the SHL all year, and Finegan, Macina, and Cole Joubert are all in the league’s top 20 in scoring.

That scoring talent came through. Less than one minute after Sherwood’s goal, Finegan answered to tie the game 2-2. DJ Long fired from deep on the left side and Finegan deflected it in at the goalmouth. 

It was the final three minutes of the second period that saw Loyola grab control of the scoreboard. With 2:41 remaining, Baine followed his own shot from the left side and buried the rebound to give Gold its first lead at 3-2, and 35 seconds later Merrill did something rarely ever seen in any game: the ‘Michigan’.

From behind the GBS net, Merrill lifted the puck off the ice, wrapped it around the post, and stuffed it into the goal.

“I’ve never seen that done in a game,” Ciraulo said.

Loyola’s four-goal output in the second period gave Roche a two-goal cushion to work with heading into the third.

“It’s definitely easier when you have that much of an advantage,” Roche said. “It helps to ease the nerves. So then I just tried to stay as attentive as possible.”

Merrill wasn’t done. He scored his third goal less than two minutes into the third period, getting his stick on the puck at the net to re-direct a Matt Markiewicz shot taken from the right side. Mack Klein also assisted on the goal.

Ciraulo was happy to have Merrill back in the fold after a brief absence due to illness, and applauded his three-goal scoring outburst.

The Loyola coach also liked what he got from other sources.

“(Markiewicz) was a forward to start the year,” Ciraulo said. “The way he transitioned has been great. We asked him to help slow down that Freimuth line and he did a great job. I was really impressed by him. And Tommy Macina was basically double-shifting because Julian (Gabal) got hurt. He was really working hard for us, the way he back-checked, and he really played a complete game.”

Baker fired from an acute angle on the right side to make it 6-2 just 45 seconds after Merrill’s third goal, on assists from Jack Peraino and Walker. Ten minutes ticked off the clock in the third period before GBS made it 6-3, when Freimuth slapped home a loose puck in the goalmouth with 4:40 remaining. Sherwood and Hoffer assisted on the play.

Baine ended the day’s scoring with 1:24 left when Peraino centered a pass from behind the net and Baine one-timed it.

Roche left Glenview with his eighth SHL win in net in eight tries.

“I saw a lot of shots from (GBS) that I don’t usually see in this league,” Roche said. “But all the shots I took — it feels great. Honestly, I like a high-shot game more than a lower one.

“I loved the offense tonight and that’s kind of been the story for us all year. We have an amazing offense. And we were down a guy on defense - (Chris) Sipe, and he’s really good - but I think we still did a great job of shutting them down.”

Merrill was proud of his senior goalie.

“(Roche) was telling me he was a little nervous before the game, so I just told him to be confident,” Merrill said. “And he had thirty-six saves. He was incredible.”

Glenbrook South plays its next SHL game Monday at Lake Forest.  Loyola followed Saturday’s win with a 6-3 home win Sunday over Saint Viator.

Loyola got goals from Finegan, Baine, Sipe, Merrill, Baker and John Dwyer in the win, and Baine now leads the SHL in scoring with 40 points (15 goals, 25 assists) — two points ahead of Freimuth (38 points, 19 goals, 19 assists).

Saint Ignatius’ Tiernan Ryan (31 points), Finegan (30), and Hoffer (30) round out the top five current SHL points leaders.