Varsity Giants Defeat Deerfield to Reclaim D113 Cup

The Highland Park Varsity Giants Ice Hockey Team beat Deerfield 4-3 Wednesday night in an epic OT shootout thriller to win THE Rivalry Game and secure the District 113 Cup for the 3rd time in 4 years!

The Seniors carried the way in this instant classic over their fiercest rival in a game for the ages. In front of a packed house reaching capacity at Glacier Ice Arena, the Giants got goals from Charlie Cohen in the 1st and Owen Silverman in the 2nd before Dylan Lansky broke a 2-2 tie midway through the 3rd to go up 3-2. Deerfield then struck back with less than 5 minutes remaining to tie it at 3 at the end of regulation. A 3 x 3 ten (10) minute sudden-death overtime ensued as both squads pushed it to the limit with one scoring chance after the next. The back-and-forth action was relentless, and the energy was palpable. AJ Caplan was sensational in net stopping multiple point-blank opportunities from the Warriors. All the skaters played their hearts out and stretched the boundaries of sheer exhaustion. Ultimately the 10-minute OT ended scoreless forcing a sudden death shootout. After Deerfield tallied first, Dylan Lansky matched and scored on a beautiful move to tie the shootout at 1-1. Teams traded chances back and forth (but to no avail) until the 5th round. That’s when Owen Silverman skated to center ice to take his turn at shootout glory. A few strides in and a sneaky quick move around the DF goalie, Silverman backhanded the puck into the back of the net, and pandemonium erupted. The Giants had done it in euphoric fashion to beat Deerfield 2-1 in the shootout. The student spirit and support played a huge role in rallying the Giants to Victory and returning the Cup home! Thank you for showing out in BLUE!

The JV Hockey Team is also playing great hockey and has found a wonderful mid-season stride. Going for their second consecutive tournament win, the JV Giants beat Chicago North, D211, Libertyville, and the Ice Cats to go 4-0 in Group Play in this weekend’s Thanksgiving Tournament in Buffalo Grove. They then skated tough against top-ranked Stevenson for 3 periods before falling 2-1 in the 3rd period of the Championship Game. An overall great effort for these young Giants as they take a commendable 2nd place/runner-up trophy back to Highland Park.