With his team tied 1-1 against Saint Viator after two periods, New Trier coach Adam Cheris had a simple message for his players in the locker room, before the third period of Friday’s state semifinal game.

“You don’t want to come back in this locker room crying because we lost,” Cheris said.  “You want to come in crying because we’re going to the United Center.”

In such tight situations, there may be no high school team in Illinois as calm, confident, and capable as New Trier Green. So when Saint Viator scored a short-handed goal that tied the game late in the second period, and aimed to ride that momentum into the third, Illinois’ top-ranked team fell back on the experience of a long season.

“It was all positivity in the locker room,” New Trier goalie Wyatt Schmidt said. “We had to stay up, we know we can win, and we know we had the power to win because we were putting on the pressure.

“It’s a Viator team that’s been winning but we’ve come back against them, and come back against other teams, so we just really know what we have.”

What followed was a four-goal third period that gave defending state champion New Trier a 5-1 win and a second consecutive trip to a state title game at the United Center. The Trevians will take on York Wednesday at 8 p.m. in Chicago, in a rematch of last year’s state title game.

York won 2-1 in overtime against Saint Ignatius in Friday’s other state semifinal.

New Trier (53-8-2) figured that Saint Viator (31-23-0) would break fast from the gate at The Edge in Bensenville, and the Trevians figured correctly. New Trier swept three regular-season games against the Lions, but Saint Viator coach Tim Benz’s squad was flying high for the game’s first 17 minutes and earned a 12-9 edge in shots in the first period.

“What an effort by them,” Cheris said. “We knew Viator would be ready. You play everybody so many times in the (SHL) so the worry becomes ‘how do we get up?’”

Unfortunately for fifth-seeded Saint Viator, no goal was forthcoming against top-seeded New Trier. Puck luck is a viable thing in hockey, and the Lions simply couldn’t find any.

“We had a couple opportunities and pucks just bounced right over our sticks,” Benz said. “We were in the slot, in the right spots, and for whatever reason the gods didn’t give us those today.”

It didn’t help Saint Viator’s cause that Schmidt was on his game behind a defense featuring defensemen like Shane Randle, Jack Savino, Charlie Fiske, Zack Huebsch, and Juhan Jaason.

“It’s a state final four so obviously we’re going to be looking at a tough team that’s going to come out as hard as (Saint Viator) did,” Schmidt said. “I was a little nervous at first but once you’re on the ice, it calms the nerves. And when you get that first save, the next one’s a little easier.”

“In the second two periods we had so many blocked shots, and I had so much help in the defensive zone,” Schmidt said. “I can’t say enough about my defense. They played really well today.”

Coaches talk about absorbing an opposing team’s run, and New Trier withstood Saint Viator’s strong first-period play. In fact, even though the Lions had the ice tilted in their favor for a good stretch of play, New Trier led 1-0 after 17 minutes thanks to a Luke Chiu goal.

New Trier won a draw at the right circle on Saint Viator’s end and Garrett Chong walked in on a tight two-on-one at the doorstep. Chong slid the puck to the far post, where Chiu fired on Lions goalie Brock Harer — who shined in his final game in a Viator uniform.

Harer made the point-blank stop but Chiu banged home the rebound with 10:34 left in the first period. Connor Hirschtritt also assisted on the play.

The next 25 minutes of play saw no scoring. New Trier had three power plays in the second period but wasn’t able to add a second goal, and after Saint Viator posted a 12-9 edge in first-period shots, New Trier finished with a 14-10 edge in the second.

It wasn’t until Saint Viator’s Sean Nutley (swiped a puck) broke free from the neutral zone with a puck on his stick and went in alone on net.

Nutley took a pass sent ahead by James Rice and his patient breakaway goal on the forehand tied the game with 2:33 remaining before intermission. A wild finish to end the second period featured a few tremendous saves from Harer as time ran out.

Both locker rooms were calm and focused at the break.

“It was 1-1, shots were 22-23 at that point and we were in a position to win,” Benz said. “So we were pleased.”

Saint Viator went on the power play to start the third, with a chance to turn the game in its favor. Instead, just 33 seconds into the period, disaster struck for the Lions thanks to New Trier’s Aiden Nolan.

Nolan intercepted a puck on New Trier’s end and raced up-ice before sliding a shot under Harer to give his side a 2-1 lead. There was a lot of hockey left to play but Nolan’s goal ultimately stood up as the game-winner.

“We got that early (Chiu) goal and felt good about it, felt like we were controlling the pace, and then to give up a shorty killed us,” Cheris said. “So to get that shorty back — that was it.”

Insurance came roughly ten minutes later for New Trier. Randle blocked a clearing attempt near the blue line, settled it, and slid a pass to his right, where Brendan Heneghan was ready.

“I was kind of creeping at the back door, Randle gave me a great pass, and it was a wide-open net,” Heneghan said.

Just like that, New Trier had a two-goal lead. Heneghan wasn’t finished, scoring his side’s fourth goal exactly three minutes later, with only 4:15 left to play.

Heneghan took a feed from Nolan at center ice, raced up, and split two defensemen with a shot from the high slot that stretched the back netting.

With a 4-1 lead and only four minutes left to play, New Trier’s second straight trip to the United Center was all but a done deal.

“We were hitting posts and the chances were there,” Heneghan said. “We just had to keep on working hard.”

The box score shows that New Trier scored four goals on seven shots in the third period. That included a late empty-netter from Zack Huebsch, but still showed a level of efficiency that’s fairly off the charts.

“Our phrase all week was elasticity — bend but don’t break,” Benz said. “Brock (Harer) obviously stood on his head at times today, and that helped. But they kept coming and coming and eventually something had to give.”

Nutley, Harer, Robert Hoffman, and Jack Kuffel lead a core of nine seniors that Saint Viator will lose to graduation.

“They’ve been amazing this year,” Benz said of his senior group. “This was supposed to be a down year for us. Look at our scoring and it’s all coming from sophomores and freshmen, but those seniors led those guys, and mentored them to our culture and what we do around the rink, and being a part of our brotherhood. Our seniors were great this year.”

Cheris was pleased with Friday performances from up and down his lineup.

“Wyatt is outstanding and in my mind, we have the two best goalies in the (SHL),” Cheris said of Schmidt and senior Drew Durdov. “I’ve rotated them every single game for two straight years, no matter what the game is.

“Our top guys had to step up today. Nolan scores the shorty, (Heneghan) scores two — we’ve been getting a lot of scoring so when it’s a 1-1 game, it’s time for the boys to step up, believe in themselves, and let it go. And they let it go really well today.

“Our checking line was good, (David) Wolff had a big hit and we turned around and scored right after that. That really set a tone for us. It got the bench going and then everybody was up.”

Heneghan also saw another team-wide effort from the state’s top-ranked team.

“Chong, Hirschtritt, Chiu — everyone did their role and stepped up, especially Schmidt,” Heneghan said. “All the boys really stepped up.

“This is kind of surreal but I’m really excited and I can’t wait,” Heneghan said of playing at the United Center on Wednesday. “We just have to stay confident and keep playing how we’re playing.”