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DUXBURY – Harwood boasts three boys lacrosse championships, but the 2023 squad easily takes the cake when it comes to the most balanced attack in program history.
After sputtering at the start, the Highlanders now own a seven-game winning streak and are playing like championship contenders once again. Thursday’s 14-2 victory over BFA-Fairfax put HU in position to secure the No. 2 seed for the upcoming Division II playoffs, and coach Russ Beilke’s squad is on a mission to advance to the championship for fifth time in the past six seasons.
Brian Bechtel buried six shots for Harwood, while Emmet Lasai and Teighan Fils-Aime also recorded multiple goals. Face-off specialist Tim Russo was sharp in the circle and HU goalie Evan Andrews made 10 saves while limiting the opposition to five goals or fewer for the seventh time this spring. The Highlanders’ signature well-rounded offense overwhelmed the Bullets (4-10) to spark team’s third straight double-digit victory.
“Everybody did their job today and Evan had another great game,” Beilke said. “Senior Game is always a bittersweet day because we’ve known them since they were freshmen. And you see some of them come up even earlier. It’s a great group of young men and a bunch of them are going out to play at other places. One of them is going out to Michigan to play, one is going out to Maine to play, one of the guys is looking at UVM to see if he can walk on. We would not be where we are today without Chris (Lamonia) and Paul (Geary) and Steve (Andrews) because they’ve been unbelievably great as coaches helping out.”
Harwood kicked off the season with a 4-5 loss to Rice and a 7-4 defeat at Colchester. Three weeks ago the Highlanders were a 2-3 team desperately attempting to move up in the rankings after suffering a 9-3 loss to Hartford. But now Beilke’s squad trails just one squad – 14-0 Hartford – in the standings. The only other D-II teams with winning records are Mount Anthony (9-5), Rice (8-7) and Stowe (8-7).
Harwood captured the 2019 title with a 13-11 victory over Rice and raised the banner again in 2018 following a 10-1 romp over U-32. The 2021 Highlanders locked up the program’s fourth straight finals appearance and walked away with a hard-earned 11-7 win over Rice.
“From all the years, you can compare teams back and forth,” Beilke said. “But this has just been a really fun year – especially to see what we’ve done since the beginning of the year. When we won our first championship, nobody really knew about Damien Gile and he put in around four goals against Rice – boom, boom, boom. And Connor Woolley, at the end of the first half, we were up 7-1 and Connor hadn’t scored, but he had around four assists. And then during the last championship against Stowe, Finn (O’Hara) had two goals but also three assists. The great players find a way to have the other players really elevate. And this year we have a great group of balanced players. Iyah (Lavit) is unbelievable. Brian Bechtel has been scoring multiple goals a game, but he’s not afraid of dishing and he encourages other kids. And inevitably he will also be the last athlete at the field after practice – shooting, shooting, shooting. And because he’s that guy, all of sudden there are other kids who are also hanging around and shooting now. We had a good game today against a good team, and there were still a couple guys shooting the ball afterwards. That stuff’s not coachable: It’s the kids. And my years here have been blessed with great guys like these guys. They’re just really solid, good kids that are also good athletes. And right now we are getting ready to enter the next season and we are beginning to find our form.”
GIRLS LACROSSE
U-32 14, Colchester 2
EAST MONTPELIER – Willa Long recorded her 100th career point Thursday and the Raiders easily closed out a wire-to-wire victory over the Lakers to earn their 10th win in a row.
Long wound up with four goals for U-32, which boosted its record to 13-2 and will enter next week’s Division II playoffs as the No. 2 seed. Caitlyn Fielder also scored four times, while Zoe Hilferty chipped in with two goals for the hosts. U-32’s Grace Nostrant and Alex Pickel notched their first career goals and teammates Amelia Woodard and Ruby Eaton also scored.
“It was a pretty aggressive game but we held our own,” U-32 coach Emilie Connor said. “I’m proud of the girls for keeping their composure. They played against a high-pressure defense and I’m happy with the way that we handled it and adjusted our play to have some beautiful assisted goals.”
Kelsi Pratt and Hannah Coughlin fired home shots for the 5-11 Lakers, who faced an uphill battle after the Raiders scored seven goals in the first half. U-32 won the draw battle, 15-3, thanks to solid performances in the circle by Megan Ognibene (eight draws), Hilferty (five draws) and Fielder (two draws). Nostrant grabbed a team-high four ground balls, while Hilferty and Ognibene each won three ground balls.
“We didn’t play as clean as (Wednesday), but we have been doing well adjusting to what other teams are throwing at us,” Connor said. “So that’s a positive. And we also had another strong defensive game.”
St. Johnsbury 11, Spaulding 6
ST. JOHSBURY – The Hilltoppers gained crucial separation from the Crimson Tide on the field and in the rankings Thursday while moving one step closer to securing a potential home quarterfinal game for the playoffs.
Maren Nitsche and Sophia Shippee recorded hat tricks in the victory. Ruby Rolfe and Jones added two goals apiece for St. Johnsbury, which led 6-1 entering halftime.
Hallee Allen scored three times for the Tide and teammates Isabella Boudreault, Ruby Harrington and Bella Bevins added one goal apiece. Bevins won four draws, while Paige Allen won three draws.
“We had a rough start to the game,” Spaulding coach Jason Pinard said. “We played very frantic and rushed in the first half, but we settled down and played our game in the second half. If we see them in the playoffs, we will hope to be able to play two good halves. I still feel confident about our team and don’t think we have played our best lacrosse yet.”
Spaulding falls to 9-6 and is fifth in the Division II standings, while St. Johnsbury (11-6) is ranked fourth behind.
SOFTBALL
Oxbow 17, Spaulding 0
BARRE – The Olympians scored five runs in Thursday’s second inning and used a six-run fourth frame to establish more than enough breathing room against the Crimson Tide.
Anastase Bourgeois went 2-for-4 with two doubles, one RBI and two runs scored in the victory. She also earned the complete-game victory on the mound after allowed two hits over five innings. Bourgeois struck out eight batters and didn’t issue any walks.
Taylor Keel and Rebecca McKelvey recorded singles for Spaulding. Oxbow outhit the Granite City squad 11-2 and took advantage of six errors.
“We had to make some rearrangements on defense and unfortunately we did not fair well with the changes,” Spaulding coach Tara Simpson said. “It’s one of those games you put behind you and move forward. We have to look ahead to playoffs and focus on that.”
Oxbow improves to 14-0, while Spaulding falls to 6-10.
