To say New Trier is the premier boys lacrosse team in the state of Illinois would be an understatement. The Trevians have won nine of the last 11 state titles, including the 2015 title.

The team the Trevians faced on Saturday, April 2 — Michigan’s Brother Rice — has been an even more dominant program in its state, having won 18 of the past 20 state titles, including the last 13.

Most people would have expected this clash of heavyweights to be a tough battle, and it was.

Until the second quarter.

Brother Rice scored seven unanswered goals to start the second quarter to extend its 3-2 lead to 10-2 and put the game away in the process, cruising to a 14-4 win over New Trier in Northfield.

“They’re fast, they’re strong,” New Trier coach Tom Herrala said. “They’re good, they outplayed us overall.”

Everything started out well for the Trevians when Nelson Gaechter scored a goal assisted by John Patterson, just 2:53 into the game. Jimmy Crimmins scored with just over six seconds remaining in the quarter, but the Warriors had already started their run.

Brother Rice scored three straight after that initial New Trier goal, two coming from Jack Kelly. Kelly would finish with a game-high five goals, all of which came in the first half.

After keeping close with Brother Rice in the first quarter, the Trevians (2-2) struggled in the second quarter, as Brother Rice had control of not only possession but also pace of the game and physicality.

New Trier was able to gain some momentum in the closing minute of the first half and scored on a goal by John McCain with 1.90 seconds remaining before flurries began descending from the April sky.

Right after New Trier scored a snowstorm ensued, and, coupled with sirens going off, forced the stadium to evacuate for at least 20 minutes. When the teams returned, the field and its markings were covered with snow.

“The change of weather shouldn’t have had a factor in how we played,” New Trier’s Sam Selati said. “We practice in this stuff all of the time — we should have come out here and been ready to play better.”

Brother Rice would extend its lead in a relatively quiet third quarter with two goals, while holding the Trevians scoreless. The Warriors outshot the hosts 6-0 in the quarter.

After Brother Rice scored two quick goals in the fourth, Selati set up Zac Vasilion on a goal that would mark the end of the scoring for either team.

All four of New Trier’s opponents thus far have been out-of-state opponents, including Thursday’s 9-8 win over Detroit Country Day, against whom the Trevians had to hold on in the closing minute to walk away with the win.

The Trevians now dive into eight of their next 10 games at home, including matchups with out-of-state opponents Detroit Catholic Central and Mary Institute Country Day School out of Missouri. Detroit Catholic Central has lost to Brother Rice the past two years in the Michigan finals and has also played for the state title in three other years since 2005. MICDS has won Missouri’s last two Division I titles.

“We know we have to go out to play every game, especially in-state,” Selati said. “We know we have a target on our backs but we have to try to beat teams like we were beaten today. That’s how we need to come out against teams, like they did against us.

“We expect to be good every year, we practice like that, we expect to be at the top of the state every year.”