Stewart scores four to lift New Trier girls to first title in seven years

(Editor’s Note: This story was updated on Thursday, March 20, to correct an inaccurate description of a goal.)

The key word for Addison Stewart and New Trier girls hockey on Sunday evening was bounceback.

Following a string of bad luck in the postseason, All-State forward Stewart had a remarkable bounecback effort in the state championship game, scoring four times in a 5-4 overtime victory against Fillies Hockey on March 16 at the United Center.

“It’s funny; she was struggling in the past couple of games. She couldn’t buy a goal,” NT coach Ben Piskor said of Stewart. “Then tonight, it was every time she shot it. She couldn’t miss.”

The victory also represented a playoff bounceback for the program, which had last made a finals appearance in 2022.

Stewart’s final tally of the night — an overtime finish off a pass from All-State teammate Alexis Bornhoeft — completed the team’s postseasom turnaround.

Piskor described how Bornhoeft emerged with the puck after a tussle behind the net and fed Stewart, who “was in the right place at the right time, alone in front of the net.”

The overtime tally set off a New Trier celebration, as NT halted the Fillies’ quest for a three-peat and won the program’s first state title since 2018.

The championship came in Piskor’s first season at the helm of New Trier girls hockey. Piskor, a former coach of Wilmette Braves hockey, called it a full-circle moment for him and credited his players’ chemistry.

“This locker room has been tight from Day 1,” he said. “When I walked in the door, I said, ‘Our goal is to make it to the United Center and if that sounds fun to you, stick around.’ And everybody stayed. We’ve been tight the whole way through.”

New Trier’s connectivity was nearly not enough in the end, though.

The Fillies scored three consecutive goals on Sunday to take a 4-2 lead in the third period. But a big moment from a New Trier freshman with 8 minutes to play turned things around.

“They were a little down when the fourth (goal) went in (for the Fillies),” Piskor said. “We began turning the tide and getting more offensive pressure, and then Julia Schuster popped out and got a rebound for our third goal.”

Stewart, off an assist from Elise Fontana, banged home the equalizer with 1 minute 47 seconds to play, forcing the overtime period.

And then Stewart’s fourth goal, the game-winner, came about 5 minutes into the extra period.

New Trier entered the eight-team Blackhawk Cup (from the Amateur Hockey Association of Illinois) as the No. 1 seed after finishing 12-1-4 in the Metro Girls Hockey League, first place in the Scholastic Division. The Fillies led the Founders Division with a 17-0 division mark. New Trier bested the Fillies 2-1 in October in non-division play.

In the tournament, New Trier topped Loyola (4-0) and Fenwick (7-1) en route to the championship against the No. 2 Fillies.

The state title is the 10th in New Trier girls hockey history. Stewart was one of six New Trier players to make the AHAI All-State team. The others were: goaltender Juliet Drake, defenders Madison Romanoff and Willow Sell, and forwards Alexis Bornhoeft and Ava Schuster.

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