Trevians top Illinois field hockey with fourth consecutive state championship

Honor Roberts said her field hockey experience in New Trier was completed on Saturday.

Victory defines that circle.

Drawn to the varsity team in her first year, Roberts made it three for three in state championships (no tournament in 2020) when the Trevians took a 3-1 win over Glenbrook (North and South Cooperative) on October 29. in Northfield.

“This was really special to me because it was my senior year,” said Roberts, who will compete next year with the University of Pennsylvania. “This season has been really great. The team has played really great and I love all my teammates. Going out on a high and getting this win rounds out my New Trier field hockey for the past four years. to close a circular moment.”

The state title victory was the Trevians’ fourth consecutive time (2018, ’19, ’21, ’22) and the 11th since 2007 (15 state tournaments). New Trier has a total of 16 state championships, including 14 under head coach Stephanie Nykaza.

New Trier (25-4) has been a dominant force this season, finishing an undefeated season against in-state opponents, while also playing top national programs at tournaments in St. Louis, Pennsylvania and Northfield.

Nykaza praised its talented players not only for their play on the field, but also for their work off it.

“We work very hard,” she says. “We really challenged our girls…with our rigorous schedule. We have a lot of good players, but we work quite hard. I’m excited.

“This is my 14th state title, but it’s not easy because of the pressure on the kids. And there’s the relentless pressure from the other teams because they have nothing to lose. … They felt the heat, but they performed and did what they had to do to win everything.”

In the title game, Glenbrook did not make it easy for the Trevs.

The game was scoreless for fifteen minutes, before Roberts broke through and gave her team a 1-0 lead at halftime. Roberts said after the first quarter the Trevians focused their attack on the right, an adjustment that opened things up offensively.

“That helped a lot,” she said. “If you attack from the left, it’s the strong side of the defender’s stick, so it’s easier for them to tackle and defend. So you want to attack lower right more often. Then it is the other way around.”

New Trier scored two more times in the third quarter with goals from junior Izzy Morgan and junior Makenzie Gable.

Working to protect the three-goal lead in the last quarter, the Trevs claimed their state championship with a 3-1 win over an able Glenbrook, Nykaza said.

“They are good and their stars have risen to the challenge,” she said of Glenbrook. “The game was what it should be. A state championship is supposed to be difficult, but three goals is a lot for a state game.

“It took us some time, but I knew that once that first goal came, there would be a little bit of pressure from (our team). … I knew GBS was going to fight. They fought, we fought and we got the win achieved.”

Nykaza said this year’s Trevians are high on her long list of great teams.

She said this team was distinguished by its ability to adapt and interact with each other no matter the circumstances.

“I have to say that this is probably one of our better teams coming out of New Trier,” said Nykaza. ”… What made this team really special and really good is that they would adapt. When we got out of certain tournaments and took our chunks, they would adapt. …And I think they were really, really competitive. These guys breathed it, and that’s something you can’t always coach. As a team, they were on fire. I’m really proud of them.

Roberts (29 goals, team-high 24 assists) is one of five Trevian seniors to come out at a high level, meaning New Trier is poised to return 24 players from this championship team. Among them is top scorer Morgan, a regular Princeton who finished the season with 42 goals and 14 assists in 29 games.