New Trier girls hockey goes back to back

New Trier girls hockey has a bunch of gamers, regardless of age.

Case in point: sophomore Avery Ko in the state championship.

Leading up to the game, Ko wasn’t sure she could play. Nerves made her stick to her stomach — the locker-room garbage can held the proof.

But come game time, Ko was ready to go with the rest of her teammates, scoring a first-period goal to put New Trier in front 2-0.

“We’re a resilient group,” New Trier coach Ben Piskor said. “We know we need everybody to contribute. We’re not going to rely on one or two kids to carry the mail and we’ve gotten those contributions beginning of the year all the way through the end.”

By the end of the first period, New Trier led 3-1 against Fenwick, an advantage they turned into a 5-3 victory Sunday, March 15, at Allstate Arena. New Trier hoisted its second straight Amateur Hockey Association of Illinois championship — its first back-to-back titles in 20 years (2005, 2006). New Trier has a total of 10 AHAI championships (2026, ’25, ’18, ’14, ’12, ’09, ’06, ’05, ’02, ’00).

Piskor, in his second year as New Trier’s head coach, said the key to the two-year run is the program’s depth. He praised his team’s “six lines.”

Specific to this year, New Trier surged at the perfect time. A No. 3 seed in the state tournament, New Trier topped Barrington 9-2 and then No. 2 Glenbrook 3-2 to match up with No. 4 Fenwick.

Piskor credited his team’s improvement early in games — an attribute New Trier showed off in the state championship. Julia Schuster, assisted by Megan Gallagher and Lina Alberts, scored within two minutes.

“It was nice to see a goal go in early,” Piskor said. “We weren’t really the most successful getting the first goal a lot this season, but down the stretch here, that was the biggest change. We were able to set the tone from the start and maintain everything and keep doing what we like doing.”

Ko’s goal gave New Trier a two-goal buffer, but, in a sign of things to come, Fenwick standout freshman Libby Boveri found the net next to cut her team’s deficit to one.

New Trier was quick to respond, though. Lily Vanselow scored near the end of the first, and Megan Gallagher and Vaneslow added to New Trier’s lead early in the second, making the score 5-1 headed to the fourth.

Boveri gave Fenwick hope. She scored twice in the final period, one coming with her team shorthanded to make the score 5-3 with three minutes to go.

New Trier, however, held tough the rest of the way to claim the crown.

Piskor praised the effort up and down his roster, celebrating that many New Trier players took the ice in the season finale, including six seniors to finish it off. He specifically mentioned his two talented goaltenders, All-Stater Juilet Drake (8 saves) and Alexis Sugarman (4 saves)

“I’m just really glad to have been a part of it,” Piskor said. “It’s something you dream about for a long time. I never won any state titles in my playing career. It’s been a dream to be a part of it and to do it back to back has been something special see. We’ll see what happens next year.”

Drake was one of six New Trier players to make the AHAI All-State team. The others were: defender Elise Fontana and forwards Carter Harre and Alexis Bornhoeft, the team’s leading point scorer.

Piskor also gave credit to defender Alessandra Lucchese, and the team’s three captains Vanslow, Megan Gallagher and Keira Barr.

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