If New Trier consistently starts fast from the gate the way it did Saturday at Saint Viator, teams in the SHL might be chasing first-period deficits against Green all season.

New Trier did nearly everything right through 17 minutes at Saint Viator, fueled by high energy and effort in building a 2-0 lead after a period of play, on its way to a 3-1 road victory.

“We’ve had some trouble with slow starts but we started really well tonight,” New Trier’s Mitch Seifert said. “It’s about preparation before a game. We’ve got an undefeated (SHL) record so we know we can’t go into games cocky because every team is going to give us a battle.”

New Trier (16-2-1 overall, 9-0-0 in SHL play) got goals from Seifert and Aidan Nolan to cap off a dominant first period. Saint Viator (10-4-0, 8-3-0) got a power-play goal from Robert Hoffman in the second period, cutting Green’s lead in half, but New Trier answered with a Michael Pedraja goal late in the period to restore its two-goal lead.

A scoreless third period followed and when the final buzzer sounded, New Trier had retained its unbeaten play in Illinois’ toughest prep hockey league.

And the foundation of Saturday’s win was built on a first period that left New Trier coach Adam Cheris with no complaints.

“That first period is who we are,” Cheris said. “When we’re on like that we’re really tough to beat. When we don’t give up anything, pound the net, the forecheck is heavy, using our D, getting rebounds — I loved our first period tonight.”

Saint Viator goaltender Brock Harer was nothing short of outstanding Saturday. Harer turned away shots and rebounds on bang-bang plays multiple times against a Green team that ultimately earned a 16-5 edge in shots through 17 minutes.

Seifert finally solved Harer with roughly four minutes remaining in the period. Brendan Heneghan intercepted a pass in Green’s offensive zone on the left side, and found Seifert at the far post.

Saint Viator nearly knotted the game 30 seconds later in transition. The Lions fired on New Trier goalie Wyatt Schmidt from the left side and Schmidt made the stop, but the puck squirted loose and was headed over the goal line when New Trier’s Zack Huebsch reached back and took it off the line.

“(Huebsch) was in a good spot, fortunately, because that was going in,” Cheris said.

New Trier went up 2-0 one minute later, when a puck squirted out to Nolan on the right side and he took a few strides diagonally across the slot before sending a backhand home with 3:12 remaining in the first period.

Ashton Freel and Pedraja assisted on Nolan’s goal.

Saint Viator had four power plays on the night but New Trier’s penalty kill shined in the first two, finding shorthanded shots during both. The chief culprit behind those shots was Nolan, who intercepted three Saint Viator passes and embarked on breakaways that Harer turned away.

“It’s something I learned from Butler (Chessen) and Landon (Douthit) last year,” Nolan said. “They would jump those pucks. Tonight a couple times, they were telegraphing passes across so it was easier to jump it. And I have trust in the defensemen behind me and they’re going to make the play if I miss it.”

Cheris appreciated his boys’ play on the penalty kill. But…

“I love our PK,” Cheris said. “I just don’t want us to have to do it. We always want to stay at even strength but in the second period we got into the penalty game. That took us out of the flow and kind of broke our momentum and broke our stride.”

Saint Viator’s Aidan O’Neill found a shot early in the second period that Schmidt turned away, and Schmidt stopped a Colton Neuhaus shot before the Lions went on the power play that earned them a goal.

A wild scrum at the net saw Saint Viator whacking at the puck at the post. It got loose and floated to the crease, where Hoffman buried it with 4:06 remaining in the second period. It was Hoffman’s team-leading ninth SHL goal and Jack Kuffel earned his third assist in league play.

New Trier answered back three minutes later, going up 3-1 on the game’s final goal, when Pedraja scored his team-leading sixth SHL goal off of Freel’s second assist of the night.

Early in the third period, Saint Viator had the second of two potentially dangerous scoring chances wiped away. The Lions twice had 2-on-1 rushes over the blue line but were whistled offside both times.

Saint Viator’s Jacob Voris fired from the left side but Schmidt stopped his shot with roughly 11 minutes left to play. Schmidt stopped a Connor Sibigtroth shot from just inside the blue line, then turned away the O’Neill with two minutes remaining.

New Trier ultimately outshot Saint Viator 37-20 per SHL website stats.

“I was really happy with Mitch Seifert tonight,” Cheris said. “He’s a forward who’s been playing defense for us most of the year. He’s been great at D. But he just adapts to whatever he’s been asked to do. He had a huge goal and he had four or five shots just doing what he’s supposed to do. It was a big night for him.”

Seifert is enjoying his utility role this season.

“Whatever I’m asked, I just try to go out and do my role as well as I can,” Seifert said. “I prefer offense but I enjoy my time on D, too. I told (Cheris) I feel confident playing D and he trusted me.”

With forward David Wolff absent Saturday, Cheris also liked what he got from Pedraja. “He was another one tonight,” Cheris said. “He scored our third goal and every time he jumps into (David) Wolff’s spot, he scores.

“Heneghan played a good game and his line was on tonight, Nolan had a strong game again, and defensively (Christian) Randle was really good, as always.” New Trier plays at Loyola Sunday, and Saint Viator travels to Carmel for its Sunday game.