Gator Cup three-peat eludes South

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CRYSTAL LAKE – This time, it just wasn’t meant to be.

Crystal Lake South’s hockey team was shut out by Lake Forest, 2-0, in the Gator Cup Holiday Tournament championship game Monday. The loss came after the Gators defeated the Scouts, 4-2, the night before, which made South’s second-place finish sting.

“It’s tough to lose a game like this,” South coach Rich Perillo said. “We just didn’t clog the front of the net enough tonight.”

South had captured the Gator Cup title the previous two seasons. Lake Forest goalie Mark Klein was stellar, stopping all 36 shots he faced from the Gators.

“It feels great to win, especially given the circumstances,” Klein said. “My defenseman blocked a lot of shots and did everything I could’ve asked of them.”

Klein wasn’t the only stellar goalie Monday. South goalie Eric Bartos gave up one goal, which came on a Lake Forest power play with 5:57 remaining in the second period. Bartos stopped 20 of 21 shots before the Scouts iced the victory with an empty-net goal with 47 seconds to play in the game.

Bartos also made two spectacular saves with less than three minutes remaining in the game, keeping South’s title hopes alive at the time.

“Sure this stings, definitely,” Bartos said. “I’m a senior, so I wanted to win this game really bad.”

The mood in the Gators’ locker room was quiet and somber after the loss. When asked what Perillo said to the Gator players afterward, Bartos had a quick answer.

“He told us to remember how this feels,” Bartos said.

South had plenty of chances. The Gators finished 0 for 6 on the power play, which included a two-man advantage early in the first period. Thanks to a delayed penalty during the two-man advantage, South saw six consecutive minutes of power-play time during the first 14 minutes. It made little difference, as Lake Forest kept the Gators’ shooters on the perimeter most of the night.

South’s coaching staff said they didn’t take defeating the Scouts for granted, despite beating them the night before. Perillo was asked what lessons could be learned from such a heartbreaking loss in a title game.

“That we can’t ever let up,” Perillo said. “We were a step behind them all night. ...We didn’t take anyone for granted, we were just a little bit sluggish out there.

“These kind of games happen,” Perillo said.

South (28-11-3) beat Jacobs in the semifinal round earlier in the day, 8-3, to reach the championship game.