New Trier Green does it again, earning 3rd straight state title

With a long history of success, New Trier Green hockey regularly sees an opponent’s best. But seeing the best makes Green its best, according to head coach Adam Cheris.

Defending two straight state championships (and six in eight seasons), Green proved that all season, tracking up 60 victories in 68 games and capping the dominant season with a state three-peat on Sunday evening.

“You get the top game from every team you play — their top lineup, top goalie, they are fired up and get a lot of fans to the games.,” Cheris said of New Trier opponents. “For us, it’s actually a good thing. It gets us a little more battle-tested and we know we’ve already seen a team’s best, so it’s just another game, and we do what we do.”

Benet Academy was the latest to find that out on Sunday, March 16, in the Blackhawk Cup finale at the United Center. Green hung on to its early 1-0 lead all game, vanquishing multiple 5-on-3 disadvantages, as well, en route to a third straight state championship — their seventh in the last nine seasons, and 19th overall (since 1983).

Green’s Ethan Baker found the net on his team’s first power play about seven minutes into the game.

Cheris said the early tally was especially important against Benet’s All-State goaltender Ben Ciesla.

“The goalie on Benet is their strength,” he said. “You know if the guy stands on his head and makes 50 saves, you could lose. So it’s nice to get an early one instead of having to chase on a good goalie.”

On the other side of the ice, Green’s own All-State goalie, Wyatt Schmidt, had a relatively quiet night, Cheris said.

Schmidt made a handful of impressive saves, but Cheris said Green’s defense limited Benet’s powerful perimeter shooting, saving their goalie from some trouble.

Green’s penalty-kill unit was especially on point. The group turned back two two-man-down situations, among other disadvantages.

Cheris pointed out Chase Marino, Hans Huber, Mike Pedraja and Harrison Miller as guys who helped shut the Redwings down.

“You don’t see that often,” Cheris said of 5-on-3 time. “… Credit our penalty kill. We’ve been great at penalty killing all year. We studied a lot of what Benet does on a power play, made some adjustments to take away from that they look for and executed really well.”

Cheris took over New Trier Hockey in 2023 from longtime club leader Bob Melton, and Green has won a state title each season under his direction.

He said each of his championship teams have brought something different to the ice. This year’s 60-win team featured 18 seniors, a major factor in the dominating championship run.

“There’s that want.” Cheris said of senior leadership. ” … It’s really their last shot, and they want to go out on top. They are a little more seasoned with a little more of an edge but calm as well. They know if they go out and turn it on, they are going to get the win.”

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