South stumped again

Crystal Lake South's Scottie Stalo moves the puck past Barrington's Patrick McVickers during Wednesday's game at Barrington Ice Arena. Barrington won the Scholastic Cup game, 2-1. (Travis Haughton – thaughton@nwherald.com)

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BARRINGTON – Crystal Lake South picked up its intensity, created more scoring opportunities and finally put a puck in the net during the third period.

The Gators still could not accomplish what they really wanted – a win against Barrington.

The Broncos scored on two power-play goals to defeat South, 2-1, in their Metro Central Division Scholastic Cup playoff opener Wednesday night at the Barrington Ice Arena. Barrington handed the Gators their only two defeats in Metro Central American Division play by margins of 6-3 and 7-2.

“It’s frustrating. We were close, we only lost by one, but in the end, if you lose, you lose,” forward Brian Lichterman said. “It’s especially tough to these guys in this rink with their fans.”

Lichterman scored on a power-play goal with 10:18 remaining in the third period on a slap shot from the right point. South (35-14-3) outshot the Broncos, 9-6, in the final period.

“The third period was the best period we’ve played all year,” South coach Rich Perillo said. “We played with a lot more heart and determination. It just came down to they had two power-play goals and we had one. Our goalie [Ben Allison] played fantastic.”

Allison had 27 saves in his first start against the Metro Central American champions.
“Going into the game, Coach told me to concentrate,” Allison said. “He said if I did that, that I’m unbeatable.”

Barrington (28-17-3) scored less than three minutes into the game on Chris Towne’s goal. Austin Bostock added another power-play goal in the second period, but Allison didn’t allow anymore into the net.

South’s best power play led to Lichterman’s goal. Mark Greenberg passed it to him at the point and he fired a shot past Zak Schmitz, who had 17 saves.

“We finally took the puck into the zone and got some quality shots,” Lichterman said. “If you get enough good ones, one’s bound to go in.”

South can claim one of the top two spots in the Scholastic Cup and advance in the playoffs if it beats Cary-Grove at 8:30 p.m. today, then Jacobs and Libertyville.

“We played well and we played hard, we just had trouble finishing,” senior defenseman Max Hamrick said. “I haven’t beaten [Barrington] in my years here. It was something I really wanted to do.”

Barrington rebounded well from a Metro Central American loss to C-G, 4-3, on Friday with a victory in the four-game round-robin playoffs.

“To beat a team twice is pretty hard. Three times is really tough,” Bostock said. “Going into the playoffs, it’s a clean slate – nothing else matters. When you play good teams, it’s always a matter of who makes the fewest mistakes. If they make mistakes, you have to capitalize on them.”