Updated: January 28, 2012 11:17PM

The heavily-favored Glenbrook North Spartans defeated New Trier Blue Saturday night 3-0 to begin the Scholastic Cup Playoffs.

Even with New Trier (14-24-5) racking up far more shots on goal (16-26), Spartan goalie Griffin Peifer fended off several dead-on attempts with good defensive help throughout the match in Northbrook.

Scholastic playoffs continue this week with games played every Wednesday and Saturday.

The Spartans won the Metro North League this season at 17-0-3 in conference play and 32-13-8 overall.

© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.