Glenbrook  North coach Evan Poulakidas was a little nervous going into Round 1 of the SHL Semifinals vs. Rockford Friday night in Northbrook. He knew what to expect but his team hadn't been on the ice in a week. But when push came to shove it was skill over strength that led the Spartans to a 3-1 win. 

"I was worried about our start tonight," Poulakidas said. "Generally when we don't play in a week don't play that well the first game back so getting that start was really critical into getting to where we got tonight."

The Spartans took advantage of two power plays early, calming Poulakidas' nerves a bit. It was Chad Yale that netted those two power play goals with 12:46 left in the first and the other with 11:39 left. 

"We knew it was going to be a physical game so we just tried to use our speed to get around them," Yale said. "They have a lot of big boys on their team and we just try to do the best we can with what we have and if we don't get it, we'll get it next time."

The Spartans definitely showed their speed and skill and had plenty of scoring opportunities where the game should have been a bigger blowout. They had it set up perfectly and just couldn't deliver. 

For Poulakidas, their efforts was deja vu. Practice didn't go so well and when they don't practice well, they don't play well. 

"Last night (at practice) it was the same thing tonight," Poulakidas said. "We had great offensive chances in our drills but couldn't find the back of the net to save our life. I thought we had great opportunities to extend that lead and their goalie made some great saves, you have to give him a lot of credit. Truthfully I think we should have had five or six but he was outstanding." 

Logan Nein came through for the Spartains with 11:54 left in the third and knew their skill would out-weigh Rockford's strength. 

"We knew we're a fast team, we knew we have a lot of skill," Nein said. "When a big team goes against a skill team it's always going to be a good game."

Rockford's lone goal was scored by Andy Cropp with 19 seconds left to play. Rockford will host Glenbrook North for Game 2 of the semifinals Thursday at 8:30p.