New Trier Green takes victory in quad header

Four NT hockey teams played against Loyola last weekend

Jasmine Gonzalez, News Editor

Saturday, Nov. 19 marked the annual Quad Header in which four of New Trier’s hockey teams face off against their Loyola Rivals. The series was held at the Centennial Ice Rinks in Wilmette.

The girl’s team kicked of the games at 2:40 pm, followed by Green, Blue, and ending with the junior varsity teams.

In total 8-10 goals were scored, with only New Trier Green winning with a score of 5-4. The girls followed, tying 1-1. Both the Blue team and junior varsity teams lost with scores of 2-1 and 4-1, respectively.

The Quad Header is one of the most important events for the New Trier Hockey Club and all of the proceeds go to charity.

The games do not count in league standings. However, according to the Girls’ Head Coach Nelson Forsberg,  “you would think it’s a playoff game with how serious everyone takes it.”

New Trier Green’s head coach, Bob Melton, agreed saying, “The home Quad Header vs Loyola is the biggest game of the year other than State.”

The game is a big deal, with the four teams anxiously preparing to face New Trier’s biggest rivals from the very start of the year. The rivalry with Loyola makes the game all the more intense.

“Loyola and New Trier is the best rivalry in high school hockey; no other game is like the Quad Header,” Senior captain of the Green Team, Jack Raith said. “You grow up playing with the guys on Loyola and then it ends up [that] they’re your biggest enemies.”

The girls also felt the pressure of the game, the long-standing feud setting it apart from other matches.

“We wanted to win more than usual because it was against our rivals, Loyola. We wanted a clean sweep,” Junior right winger, Clare Mulhern said.

Having missed the games last year after the Loyola girls backed out the last minute, the New Trier girls, many of whom were playing in the Quad for the first time, were feeling as excited as they were nervous.

After facing off with Loyola for the second time this year, the girls tied with a score of 1-1 with NT outshooting Loyola 28-13.

“We made a good push in the third period to generate some scoring opportunities and came close to putting the puck in the net near the end of the game,” Forsberg said.

The Green Varsity team also played a tough match, going up against Loyola Gold for the third time this year.

The game started off well with Green getting in four out of their five goals in the first period.

Senior Matthew Mulhern started off the scoring early in the first period.

Later, Senior Tommy Cahill was able to score the third goal after he hit the post and put in the rebound.

Despite the presence of a profane object on the ice, Senior Johnny Huber was able to score the winning goal, earning praise from Raith.

“Johnny is always clutch, and has been since he came to [New Trier] last year. He just proved it again in the quad,” Raith said.

The support from the fans filling the stadium added to the excitement of the night.

“Our crowd is always the best and I think everyone in the arena finds that out by the end of the game,” Raith said.

The impact was felt even more by the girls, who usually get a smaller turnout. However, since the Green’s match was set after theirs this year, the girls got to experience fuller stands than usual

“It was nice to have fans come out to the game,” s forward junior Charlotte Melgrad said.

Mulhern agreed adding, “One of the best moments was stepping out onto the ice and seeing all the New Trier fans in their Christmas sweaters.”

Although there are still many games to play, this was the last Header for the many seniors on the teams.

“So happy for the Seniors and the rest of the team on their huge victory,” Melton said.