As a social studies teacher at North Chicago High School, Dan Mergens teaches about history every day. But as the head coach of the Lake Zurich High School hockey team, Mergens isn’t content to just teach about history; his team continues to go out and make history on what seems like a weekly basis.
In this just his first season as the team’s head coach, the Bears have already set the program record for the best start to a season, had a player named Player of the Month by the Chicago Blackhawks, and had 4 players named to the conference All-Star Team (the most in team history), not to mention Mergens himself being chosen as the coach of the All-Star Team.
But as this team has shown time and time again, they are never content. As such, the Bears went out and accomplished another first last week: for the first time in the 14-year history of the Lake Zurich Hockey Team, the Bears defeated archrival Barrington High School. The 3-1 win on Sunday ended a nearly decade-and-a-half long drought for the Bears. Making the win even sweeter for the Bears is the fact that Barrington was just announced as the #2 team in the state heading into the State Tournament next month. Before Lake Zurich handed them the loss, the Broncos had been undefeated in conference play, compiling a record of 17-0-1.
Mergens was overcome by emotion after the win: “I just…I mean, what can I say? “This epitomizes the type of accomplishments we expect to have with this team. It's everything we've worked for.” Sophomore assistant captain Kolton Durment was equally at a loss for words. “There are simply no words that can describe the feeling that each and every one of us had after the game. All of our hard work and effort had paid off.”
Senior defenseman Chris Radecki called the game a “must-win” due to the losing streak the Bears had been mired in; Lake Zurich had lost six in a row heading into the showdown with Barrington. The team captain said, “Snapping that losing streak against Barrington, of all teams, was a huge turning point. Everyone knew we desperately needed a win and we came out and put two unanswered goals on the board and played strong the rest of the way.”
Radecki realized the significance of the win and news of it spread quickly to former Lake Zurich players. “I had alumni who I played with when I was a freshman texting me and saying, ‘Heard you beat Barrington, congrats.’ It was definitely something special for our program as a whole.”
The Bears opened the scoring late in the first when freshman Devin Panzeca took a pass from Durment and buried it with 4:19 left in the period. Less than three minutes later, junior Joe Pizzolato streaked in on a breakaway and scored the eventual game-winner with 1:54 to play. Sophomore Sam Morgan and freshman Tim Hass assisted on Pizzolato’s goal. Pizzolato says he knew the goal was a big one: “We got in their heads,” he said.
From that point on, Mergens says the credit belongs to the players buying into the team’s system. “We changed some things on our forecheck and it really gave Barrington fits. Our players stayed disciplined and it paid off.”
Barrington cut the lead to 2-1 midway through the second, but the Bears maintained the lead until late in the third. Mergens described the final two minutes of the game as the longest of his coaching career. With just 1:57 left and the Bears leading 2-1, sophomore Niko Kakos was sent off for hooking. At the next faceoff, Barrington had already pulled their goaltender, meaning the Bears would be playing the remainder of the game 6-on-4. Mergens described the Barrington power play onslaught as a “shooting gallery” and credits the penalty killers with holding off the attack. “When Barrington took their timeout, we drew up what we wanted to do on the kill and our guys executed it perfectly: guys laying down to block shots, active sticks in the passing lanes, rotating well, all the things we practice.” Mergens cited one player in particular on the crucial penalty kill: “They always say that your goaltender has to be your best penalty killer, and Sammy played up to that calling all game, but especially during that last kill,” said Mergens, referring to junior goaltender Sam Smith. Ultimately the Bears were able to kill off the penalty, and freshman Devin Panzeca scored an empty-netter to seal it with under a minute to play.
Despite the victory, Mergens says the team is not about to call the season a success. “We’re not going to become complacent. There’s still a lot of work to be done if we want to avoid going another 14 years before beating them again.”
