The Upper Valley’s finest will take on Central Vermont’s cream of the crop in a pair of winner-take-all lacrosse showdowns Saturday at Norwich University.
The 4:30 p.m. boys Division II clash between No. 1 Hartford (17-1) and No. 2 Harwood (13-2) will kick off the action on the turf at Sabine Field. The Hurricanes are seeking their 16th win in a row, boast an overall record of 50-3 over the past three seasons and will attempt to beat HU for the second time this season after prevailing 6-5 three weeks ago.
The No. 4 Woodstock girls (11-6) will face No. 2 U-32 (16-2) in the girls title clash at 7:30 p.m. For the past decade one of the top three seeds has won the D-II girls tourney, but the Wasps will try to end the streak by becoming the first champ since No. 4 Rice in 2013. Last Tuesday Woodstock built a 7-0 halftime lead over top-seeded Hartford and easily handed the Hurricanes their first loss of the year with a 12-5 semifinal victory.
“Woodstock is very aggressive and fast and they’re a really complete team,” U-32 coach Emilie Connor said. “They play a lot like us and they play a really hard ride in the midfield. They’re challenging because they have a good team D that’s just hard to beat. And they mix it around and move it quickly on offense.”
U-32 captured crowns in 2006, 2014, 2018 and 2023 while establishing itself as a perennial title contender. A victory Saturday would give the East Montpelier school its third title this spring after the track and field teams earned a boys-girls sweep at the D-II state meet two weeks ago.
Woodstock is a four-time champ after going all the way in 1995, 1996, 1997 and 2015. The Wasps advanced to the Division I finals during the first six seasons after Vermont made girls lacrosse a varsity sport in 1995 and the program is 10-1 all-time during semifinal appearances.
Coach Amanda Hull’s Woodstock squad blazed a path to the title game with a 15-8 quarterfinal win over the No. 5 Green Mountain Valley School and its lopsided win over a Hartford program that had gone a combined 65-3 over the past four seasons before Tuesday. The Wasps’ offensive outburst in the semifinal was powered by Hannah Gubbins (six goals), Claudia Shoemaker (three goals), Fiona Piconi (two goals, one assist), Lila Beckwith (one goals) and Gracie Laperle (two assists), while netminder Jessica Baumann made six saves.
U-32 cruised to a 19-8 quarterfinal victory against No. 8 St. Johnsbury before eliminating No. 6 Stowe, 10-2, in the semifinals. Anika Turcotte tallied four goals for the Raiders against the Hilltoppers, while teammate Natalie Beauregard scored four times in the semis. Freshman Bianca Benoit rose the occasion in goal during playoffs while filling in for Linnea Darrow, who is expected to return for the finals.
“We like to say we haven’t peaked, and I completely believe that,” Beauregard said. “We’re constantly improving. And if you watch a practice, you can just see the intensity build and build. And then when we come to the game, it’s time to execute and we do it every time.”
Woodstock suffered a pair of losses to Burr & Burton and also fell short against Mount Anthony, Rutland, Hartford and GMVS. U-32’s only setbacks were vs. Hartford and Woodstock. A year ago the Raiders faced a 3-1 deficit against the Wasps midway through the first half in the championship, but U-32 came roaring back to life and rallied to secure an 8-4 victory.
“Woodstock has a phenomenal D and they will be coming for us and it will be a tough game,” Beauregard said. “But we’re here to defend our title.”
The Raiders are routinely at a disadvantage every preseason due to sloppy field conditions, and they’re rarely able to practice outside much before their season opener. This year’s situation was even worse than most years after nearly 2 feet of snow piled up during an April 4 storm, but one silver lining for the Raiders was the ability to train on turf at the neighboring Central Vermont Civic Center.
“Turf is a different game and it’s faster,” Beauregard said. “But we did get to practice a lot inside in the beginning of the year and we just played South Burlington on turf. So I’m confident that we’ll be able to adjust and it won’t be too different. There will be that period to adjust to it at the beginning of the game, but I think we’ll be able to handle it.”
Despite U-32’s early-season losses, Connor described this year’s squad as the most balanced collection of athletes in program history. Eight Raiders have recorded at least 20 goals this spring, and a slew of defensive standouts have happily split playing time while using quick rotations and end-to-end runs to bury opponents.
According to Connor, the rise of Division II’s premier teams over the past decade has narrowed the talent gap behind the D-I powerhouses.
“You look at our scores against D-I teams and there’s not a lot of difference there,” Connor said. “Yeah, there’s those top four or five teams in D-I who will probably beat us every time. But Woodstock just beat South Burlington, so I think we’re right up there. We’re definitely raising the bar in D-II and it sometimes feels like there should be three divisions, but then there would just be too few teams.”
The Harwood and Hartford boys have also flexed their muscles against high-end D-I opponents, proving they’re among Vermont’s top squads regardless of division. The Hurricanes endured an 11-10 setback vs. Woodstock, which was eliminated from the D-I tourney during Tuesday’s 9-8 loss to CVU. The Highlanders suffered a 16-9 loss to D-I finalist Middlebury on April 25 and kept things close for most of the game despite missing eight players due to spring break.
Hartford advanced to the final with a 12-7 quarterfinal victory over No. 8 Mount Anthony and a 10-4 win over No. 5 Milton. Ezra Mock (three goals, two assists) paced the Hurricanes in the semis, teammates Ryan Spaulding and Brayden Trombly scored two goals apiece and Graham Thompson stopped eight shots in front of the cage.
Harwood earned a 9-4 quarterfinal win over No. 8 St. Johnsbury and a 12-4 semifinal victory against No. 3 Stowe. Milo Lavit rose to the occasion against the Raiders by recording four goals and three assists. Teammate Teighen Fils-Aime finished with two goals and two assists vs. Stowe and goalie Evan Andrews stopped nine shots.
“Hartford will be tough, but it will be a great game and I think we’re ready,” Fils-Aime said. “We’ve pulled it together, but you can always get better.”
Harwood bounced back from its loss to Middlebury by rattling off seven straight wins before coming up short by one goal against Hartford. The Highlanders fell behind by several goals early in the contest and nearly forced overtime at the end, but Thompson made a handful of tricky saves to close things out in regulation.
“We certainly can’t put anything past Hartford,” Harwood coach Chris Lamonia said. “They’re a phenomenal team and their coach is fantastic. It was a tough one-goal game against them and it always helps to play a team once in the season before you play them in the championship game. But we’re ready to work and we’re going to put in the effort to do what we need to do.”
Fils-Aime and teammates Emmett Lisai, Zach Smith, Eli Herrington, Brycen Scharf, Felix Kretz and Caleb Brookens were all standouts last fall for a boys soccer squad that extended its unbeaten streak to 17 games with a 1-0 championship victory over Rice in double-overtime. If things come down to the wire again Saturday, Lamonia believes that his players will feed off their familiarty with playing in high-stress situations.
“It definitely helps that they’ve been there, because this group hasn’t been to a (lacrosse) championship before,” Lamonia said. “(Soccer) is a different sport. But coming into it, it makes a huge difference as far as nerves, anxiety and stuff like that. They’ve done it before. So having that experience is huge.”
