With runnerup finish, New Trier water polo nabs 5th IHSA trophy in 9 years

In his nine seasons (not counting the COVID-canceled 2020), David Rafferty-Flatter has coached New Trier boys water polo to an extraordinary level of sustained excellence.

Nine seasons, eight sectional championships, five 30-win campaigns and four IHSA championship games.

This year was another for the record books as New Trier amassed a 32-3 record and collected an IHSA second-place trophy following a 7-6 loss to Naperville North in the championship match on Saturday, May 24, at Stevenson High School.

“It’s inspiring and I think as a program we are looking to be competitive year after year,” Rafferty-Flatter said of the Trevians’ consistent success. “… I’m motivated by fear in a way, not to be the leader of a program that is sort of one and done, and the guys don’t want to be one and done. They are motivated to accept that pressure and responsibility. We always want to be part of the conversation.”

The Trevians were a highlight of the conversation the entire season.

New Trier won back-to-back state championships in 2022 and 2023 — the first state titles in program history — before falling short of a trophy with a junior-heavy group in 2024. Armed with motivation and experience this year, the Trevians enjoyed a 30-game winning streak entering the state final eight.

The Trevians topped Lincoln-Way East 14-7 on Friday, May 23, and edged York 8-6 in the semifinal match on Saturday morning, May 24, to set up the powerhouse state-title tilt with 31-4 Naperville North — three of North’s losses coming against the Trevians.

New Trier ran out to a 6-2 lead at halftime as Caden Adrianopoli, Caden Carberry and Holden Hiebeler scored two goals apiece.

But the Huskies switched things up in the second half.

“They made a defensive adjustment that we hadn’t seen all year,” Rafferty-Flatter said. “We had trouble breaking that and diagnosing that.”

He said North put a whole lot of defensive pressure on Trevians star Hank Woodman while also allowing one of their own stars, Mason Hofmann, to defend away from the ball.

The strategy kept the Trevians off the scoreboard the entire half. Rafferty-Flatter said when his team did figure out how to attack the Huskies’ new scheme, the Trevians couldn’t convert their shot attempts.

“It took the guys about a quarter to figure it out and once they did, our shooting went cold,” he said.

North took advantage, erasing the four-goal deficit one by one and emerging with a state championship — the first in Huskies’ history.

The runnerup finish gave New Trier its third state trophy in four years and fifth in nine seasons.

With that, New Trier waves goodbye to a 12-person senior class led by Woodman, an All-State talent who will continue to play for Santa Clara University.

Woodman was the only Trevian to score more than 50 goals this season. He scored 120, including nine in the IHSA quarterfinal win against LW East and five in the semifinal win against York.

Rafferty-Flatter said Woodman set his sights on a state-championship run when he was a middle-schooler. Woodman recruited some friends and went after it, his coach said, manifesting one of the best stretches in New Trier water polo history.

“Hank’s just that guy,” Rafferty-Flatter said. “He said, ‘I want to win a state championship, I can’t do it by myself, I need support and friends to do this with’ and started recruiting. His freshman class was the largest we’ve had. He’s just great. You need leaders like that. He’s a special one.”

The coach later added, “The senior class has stepped up in so many ways. … They’re going to do some special things out there. These guys love water polo and being around each other and are really going to be missed.”

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