A day after Christmas, the Glenview Stars Squirt 1 team hit the ice at Johnny's IceHouse for the Santa Shootout tournament. Their first opponent was an overachieving team from Niles. The Stars pulled ahead in the first period and saw goals from defensemen Sam Salemi and Max Ibarra, assisted by Nick Chiappetta and Elizabeth Ahne, respectively. John Panos, Jimmy Makuh, Chris Schrieiber and Nolan Newash also lit the lamp that game. After a comfortable lead the Stars practiced puck control and line changes. They were complimented by the Niles coaches for their sportsmanship and even had the Rangers routing for them in the championship game.

Their next opponent was St. Jude. The Stars had battled them in Glenview the week before in a one-goal win, so they knew it was going to be a tough game. The Stars rode a 1-1 tie going into the second period before they found the back of the net four more times! Goals were scored by Peter Lanscioni, John Panos, Kylie Makuh and Will Friedman. It was a great team win. Coach Panos told the team that at that point in the tournament, almost all the goals were assisted and that every Stars player had a point in only two games. 

The third game for the Stars would be their toughest. The Stars struggled and looked like they were up all night playing with their new holiday gifts. It was a battle all the way to an eventual 2-1 victory over the Joliet Jaguars. After Jimmy Makuh scored, the Jaguars came right back to tie it up in the second period. The Stars put on a barrage of shots in the third while the Jaguars goalie was saving everything. Early in the third period, Will Friedman took the puck near the crease, the Jaguars goalie went down, Friedman patiently pulled the puck back, held on just a second and then sent it to the back of the net for the 2-1 win! On the defensive end, goalie Demetri Poulos kept the Stars in a position to win.

In the championship game the Stars met the Joliet Jaguars again. It was a barn burner from the start. Will Friedman lit the lamp first for the Stars and it looked like smooth sailing with another quick goal from Kylie Makuh. That woke up the Jaguars with a mad rush and a goal which made it 2-1. After adding another goal for each team, Remi Doyle skated hard wide into the Jaguars zone, past the last defender and almost to the net when he slid a tape-to-tape pass to Peter Lanscioni for another goal. Owen Crouth closed the door on the Jaguars and was playing great in the net for the Stars. With a roughing penalty, however, the Stars went a man down, possibly allowing an opening for the Jaguars to dig their way out of their two-goal deficit and get back into the game. Coach Panos told Friedman and Mikey Stein they didn't need a goal to win, but to keep the puck deep and kill the penalty. Stein took the puck in through traffic, past three defenders and netted it top shelf for a three goal lead. He returned to the bench with Coach Nick just shaking his head, but with a smile on his face. To top off the rush of goals, Kylie Makuh took the puck from the neutral zone, blew by Joliet's defense, came in on a breakaway and put it through the five hole for the sixth goal of the game. The Stars completed their sweep of the tournament with one final goal by tournament MVP Will Freidman to win the Santa Shootout championship!

Special thanks for Nick Panos for the writeup.