The Fenwick girls’ hockey team fought hard Sunday at Allstate Arena, but it would be New Trier Green that would earn the victory and the state championship.
The Friars (14-5-4) fell to the Trevians 5-3 in the AHAI state championship game, as freshman forward Libby Boveri notched a hat trick with her third goal being shorthanded with just under three minutes left in the third period.
“We never gave up,” she said. “It’s important to never give up even when you’re shorthanded, I knew we had to push through as much as we can.”
Because Fenwick’s hockey team is a co-op club it’s players can come from various schools. Boveri is a student at Oak Park and River Forest High School.
“(Boveri) definitely kept us in the game with those three goals,” said junior forward Kate Mulvihill, the AHAI Player of the Year. “It saved our effort a lot.”
After two goals from New Trier in the first period, Boveri put the Friars on the board with a goal from the right side with 3:58 left to play. Heading into the third period down 5-1, she added her second goal with 9:34 left to play to get her team within three.
“Our line has been a big impact for our team,” Boveri said. “I always have great passing from my teammates and great plays from our defense to get the puck back to the offensive zone.”
With 20.5 seconds to go in the first period, what would have been a power-play goal from the front of the net by Mulvihill to get her team back within one was waived off by the officials.
“That definitely rattled us a bit and shifted the momentum,” Mulvihill said. “But I think we showed them that we could switch the momentum back in the third period by scoring those two goals.”
“I told the team that we can only worry about things we can control,” said head coach Mason Strom. “I’m really proud of the team that we put up a good fight and handled the momentum swings that didn’t go our way.”
Even after a slow start for the Friars, Mulvihill and Boveri saw the team continue to perform well throughout the game to keep them in it.
“The game obviously did not go as planned,” Mulvihill said. “I think the whole team is frustrated with the turnout, but we played until the end and I’m really proud of us.”
“I think we weren’t as prepared in the first period,” Boveri added. “They came out a little stronger and we weren’t fully ready yet, but eventually we came together and were more prepared.”
Two of Fenwick’s four losses in the regular season were also to New Trier, and Strom knows that they are a talented squad.
“We talked before the game about where New Trier was going to attack us in the offensive zone, and that’s exactly what they did,” he said. “Even after we shifted our defensive plan and accounted for that, they were still able to put 4 goals in through that method.”
Fenwick, which almost couldn’t field a team this season due to not having enough players, had a very successful season overall.
“It’s a really special thing,” Mulvihill said. “Every single person on our team worked hard to be there despite our short bench every game. Even when we only had nine or 10 players, everyone still gave it their all. Everyone came together as a team all year and made it a family, and we all just worked together.”