The season was 10 minutes away from being over.

The boys hockey team, seeded third in the Amateur Hockey Association Illinois, known as AHAI, State Playoffs, was losing 3-2 to the 14th seeded New Trier Blue.

“[The game] scared the living daylights out of us,” Head Coach Evan Poulakidas said.

But the brewing upset was cut short. With 9:08 remaining in the third period, a goal by senior Nick Day and, later, a double overtime tap-in by senior Ryan Slovis sent the Spartans on to the next round with a 4-3 victory.

“[I was] on the bench and [I saw] the net just shoot back. [It was] just such a relief,” senior Parker Roth said.

The boys hockey team, runner-up in last year’s state championship, finished the regular season with a 58-13-1 record and a conference championship in the Scholastic Hockey League.

“It’s not like we hope to be the best, we expect to be the best,” senior Mitchell Kasselman said.

Poulakidas said no matter what adversity the team faced, the team was able to “dig very deep” and find ways to win games.

With the first victory in hand, the team was set to face the sixth-seeded Naperville Central in the quarterfinals of the playoffs.

Kasselman said the team showed up very early to the game and “just wanted to take care of business.”

Junior Chris Zhang scored two goals in the team’s 5-1 victory over Naperville Central.

Loyola Gold, a team Glenbrook North had already beaten five times in seven meetings during the season, played GBN in the semifinal game. Roth said that in previous losses the team had made many errors, and as long as everyone did his job the game would not be much of a problem. Senior Matthew Holly scored the go-ahead goal with 14:24 left in the game and the team won 3-1 following an empty net goal at the end of regulation.

The victory secured a spot for the team in the AHAI State Championship at the United Center against the top-seeded New Trier Green, a rematch of last year’s state championship game. The teams had already met five times during the season with GBN only winning one. That win was the first time the hockey team defeated New Trier Green since the 2008 State Championship when the Spartans won 3-2.

“[Playing in the United Center] is an incredible feeling,” said Roth. “You’re out there where the [Blackhawks] play, you’re skating around and you see the whole school supporting you, the music is blasting…[and] it’s just a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

A first period goal put New Trier Green into the lead, another goal was not scored until New Trier Green put a slap shot into the net early in the third period, taking a 2-0 lead.

Poulakidas said afterward the team needed to get shots to the net with bodies in front of the goalie and, unfortunately, they did not get that done.

Senior John McNally tapped in a goal with under a minute remaining in the game, but the late comeback effort was cut short as they fell 2-1 to New Trier Green.

Poulakidas said the game was well played with very few mistakes from either team and he could not ask for more from his team.

“The hardest thing for me to do is look them in the eye and know I can’t take away that pain,” Poulakidas said.

After the game, Poulakidas, who was named the AHAI Boys High School Coach of the Year,  told his players they had a “magnificent season,” and even though it did not feel that way, they would come to grips with the loss and realize what a special group they were.

“What I’ll miss the most is not winning or losing, it’s just being with the guys,” said Kasselman. “They are your brothers. They are your family.”