Loyola Academy Gold Hockey plays Glenbrook North again this Wednesday, February 16, in the second of a three game series to secure the next spot in the playoff series.

LAG beat GBN in a nail biting first game last Saturday which astonished fans and team members alike. After being down a point in the last 2 minutes of the game, 2 goals were scored within a minute of each other securing the Ramblers a tight win against the Titans. This will likely make Wednesday’s game one for the books.

Defenseman Charlie Fritzsche said “I’m positive we’ll get the win. The team has been preparing and if our performance under pressure on Saturday wasn’t enough, then we’ll show everyone again on Wednesday.”

“Saturday’s game was definitely great to watch,” says Loyola Hockey fan Guillermo Echevarria, “but the performance doesn’t give me 100% confidence that Loyola will be able to perform against GBN again. It was too close of a game and GBN was playing amazing the entire game.”

As five time state winners, the Glenbrook North Spartans are nothing to underestimate. This will be the second game of a three game series so if LAG loses this game they will need to play the Spartans again on Saturday. But if they win, they will get the Saturday off and play the next playoff game on Sunday at the American Heartland Arena.

LAG will lose the home rink advantage this Wednesday as well. They’ll be playing on GBN’s home ice at the Northbrook sports arena. Although there are Loyola Hockey fans who live near the arena, it’s expected that there will be more GBN fans at the game.

“I do plan on going to the game even though it’s a bit of a trek,” says fan Eddie Dreher, “I know a lot of people who go to most of the games at heartland don’t have the time or means to make it up all the way to Northbrook to support the boys even if they wanted to.”

Even if they are facing a good team, playing in the state series, and not at their home ice arena, Fritzsche says that those factors are irrelevant. Loyola did pull out of an almost impossible situation last weekend with what would seem like ease to the naked eye. This is to say that the Ramblers are not to be underestimated as they play against the Spartans again on Wednesday.

It will be a close game with 2 of the best teams in the state playing for 1 spot in the next round.