Skip to content
EAST MONTPELIER – The Montpelier boys lacrosse team entered this season as the two-time defending champion and had a bright bullseye on its back since Day 1.
The Solons took their lumps during a 1-4 start to the spring and may have been overlooked at times. But now coach John Grasso’s side is back near the top of the heap in Division III as teams make their final tuneups for playoffs.
Wednesday’s 8-4 victory over the Green Mountain Valley School gave MHS its sixth straight victory in a two-week stretch, providing further evidence that a three-peat is clearly attainable. The Gumbies surrendered four early goals before closing the gap to 4-2 before the break, but a comeback was not in the cards as the Solons steadily pulled away down the stretch.
“We’re up and down with our play,” Grasso said. “Some games we’re excellent with what we’re doing, but we’re up and down with our play. Today was Senior Night and we have 15 seniors and I don’t know if nerves were there. But we got them all in and they played well. And we could play this team again next week because right now we’re ranked third and they’re ranked sixth. They’re a ski school and they’re some of the best athletes around. Lacrosse is just a fun sport for them. These guys are Olympic-level skiers and they’re not there to play lacrosse – they’re there to win gold medals. They’re all outstanding athletes and we ran with them the whole game.”
Tae Rossmassler recorded a hat trick for Montpelier four days after scoring a last-second goal that lifted his team to an overtime victory over Colchester. Teammates Joseph Tucker and AJ Moore chipped in with two goals apiece, while Brendan Tedeschi also scored for the hosts.
“Our players are unselfish,” Grasso said. “Joe Tucker was wide open in the crease today and it was his day. And it’s never any one person’s day. One day its Joe Tucker, one day it’s Nolan (Lyford), one day’s its Dylan (Hood). Every day is Tae’s day, but it’s good to have different guys scoring. No team can say, ‘This is their shooter.’ Our shooters rotate all the time and it’s great.”
Raiders goalie Cal Davis turned aside nine shots, while Angus Kurts and Rossmassler led their squad in the face-off circle. U-32 took 42 shots overall and enjoyed a massive advantage in time of possession.
“GMVS climbed back at the end of the second quarter and scored two on us,” Grasso said. “At halftime we talked about penalties and off-ball movement – and we played well in the second half. It was a good game, but there’s still a lot of stuff we have to work on.”
Montpelier (7-4) will close out the regular season with Friday’s 4:30 game at Otter Valley. GMVS (3-6) will travel to play cross-town rival Harwood at 11 a.m. Saturday.
“There’s some great teams out there and we’re one of them,” Grasso said. “There are some spots where we’re light and we’re going to work on that in practice and then we’re down at Otter Valley on Friday.”
BOYS LACROSSE
Harwood 14, Spaulding 7
DUXBURY – Brian Bechtel tucked away five goals Wednesday and the Highlanders held the Crimson Tide scoreless in the second half during a battle between Division II powers.
“It was a very well-played game,” Harwood coach Russ Beilke said. “Spaulding has a couple of really good shooters. And with that, they were able to take advantage of us early. But once we were able to settle down and get back into a rhythm on our defensive sets, we were really able to hold them off.”
Josh McHugh and Emmett Lasai tallied three goals apiece for HU and teammate Iyah Lavit scored twice. Goalie Evan Andrews made 12 saves in the victory, while Lavit, Andrew Reynolds, Sean Geary and Aiden Dalley excelled defensively. Long-stick middies Will Burks and Teighan Fils-Aime were also standouts for HU and teammate Quinn Smith was sharp as a short-stick midfielder who stepped up on defense during man-down situations.
“Will Burks exemplifies the heart and soul of the team and Teighan is very versatile,” Beilke said. “Quinn Smith is fast and aggressive and he has a really good head on his shoulders.”
Face-off specialist Tim Russo helped the Highlanders maintain control of the ball at several key points in the contest. Tide netminder Chris Howarth turned in another high-quality performance and finished with 13 saves.
“Their goalie played very well,” Beilke said. “”We haven’t played a lot of home games, so there was a lot of excitement at the start. And it was rainy and then it turned nice. We were trying to do way too much in the beginning, but as we began to settle down it was amazing to see the balls start to go into the net instead of into their goalie’s stick.”
Spaulding will carry a 5-8 record into the post-season. Harwood (8-3) owns a six-game winning streak and will close out the regular season by hosting the Green Mountain Valley School at 11 a.m. Saturday.
“There are always things to work on – it doesn’t matter if you’re 12-0 or 1-12,” Beilke said. “But we seem to be jelling better and better each game. Early-season games in Vermont are always really difficult. You’re in the gym and then you’re outside and suddenly the field is much bigger than the gym. And we traveled a lot in the very beginning and we didn’t have a home game for the longest time. So it’s nice that we were able to put together a bunch of really good wins on the road. We’ve been hosting now for the past three games and we have two more games at home, so that bodes well. And as the players get more comfortable with each other, we’re starting to play some of our best lacrosse of the season.”
GIRLS LACROSSE
U-32 16, Rice 1
SOUTH BURLINGTON – The Raiders collected their ninth straight victory and handed the Green Knights their sixth loss in a row Wednesday.
“We were back to our old selves and put together a complete game,” U-32 coach Emilie Connor said. “We held them scoreless until the last second and I’m really proud of how consistent the girls were in every segment of the game.”
Eight players scored for U-32, which led 10-0 entering halftime. Anika Turcotte (four goals) and Willa Long (three goals) led the way offensively, while Caitlyn Fielder, Ruby Eaton and Amelia Woodard each scored two goals. Defender Aurelia Farnum tallied her first goal of the season and teammates Zoe Hilferty, Megan Ognibene and Ella Neff also fired home shots. Grace Nostrant and Alex Pickel were defensive standouts for U-32 (12-2) and Raiders goalie Emily Fuller made 10 saves.
Sam Plunkett scored for Rice and Tayton Barrett stopped six shots in the loss. Rice (3-9) will travel to play Vergennes at 3 p.m. Friday.
BOYS ULTIMATE
Montpelier 15, Essex 2
MONTPELIER – A hefty crew of nine Solons were honored during a pre-game ceremony on Senior Night and didn’t waste any time getting the party started on the field.
An 8-2 halftime lead allowed the Montpelier 12th-graders to relax and enjoy every moment during the final minutes of another lopsided victory. Beorn Morrow-Caron, Ethan Borland, Ethan Toth, Jovan Strange, Olin Duggan, Cale Ellingson, Gabriel Hall, Liam Boyles and Jasper Turner walked away victorious during their final regular-season home game for MHS, which will kick off the post-season next week. The seniors were eighth-graders when the Capital City squad won the championship in 2019, and they’ve set a high standard for their younger teammates throughout their varsity careers.
“This is the level that, in subsequent years, every team is going to be striving for,” Montpelier coach Cam Mack said. “Who knows how the playoffs will go? We’re coming in very confident. And the best three teams in the state are, without a doubt, CVU, South Burlington and us. But seeding-wise, we’re fifth. Leland & Gray and Burr & Burton are seeded higher than us, but they’re down south and they haven’t played as many of the top teams. And because we’re fifth, we’re going to have a harder playoff schedule. So the first round for CVU and South Burlington, they’re going to play the No. 15 and No. 16 seeds. But it could be a good thing for us to play more legitimate teams to refine our approach. Coaching-wise, I didn’t adjust a lot in playoffs last year. And I think that’s why we lost in the semifinals and didn’t make it all the way. We will still have really stiff competition because every team is playing better this time of the year. We’re going to focus on strategic experience and try to utilize our senior leadership and adapt.”
Three was the magic number for Morrow-Caron, who recorded at trio of goals, assists and defensive turnovers. Borland wound up with three goals, one assist and two defensive turnovers to help his team turn things into rout.
“It was rainy right out of the gate, but from the jump we wore them out with a lot of poaching and zone looks on defense,” Mack said. “Essex is a talented team, but we threw a couple wrenches at what they were trying to do and they couldn’t get any momentum and they just could not move the disc for the entire game. They were definitely not happy, but they had really good spirit. We tried to switch up lines a bit, but we played a lot of seniors today. And all the seniors played really well.”
Toth and Strange were both relentless defenders who fought through the slippery conditions to limit Essex to zero points in the second half.
“Ethan Toth played great defensively for us and Jovan was an absolute monster on D,” Mack said. “Jovan is one of the best defenders in the entire state. He’s only played Ultimate for two years and he’s just so dedicated.”
Montpelier is poised to host a playdown next week but may have to hit the road for a potential quarterfinal.
The Solons captured the 2019 championship with a 14-9 victory over Burlington before suffering an 11-9 playodown loss to Colchester in 2021. Last year’s season ended with a 15-9 semifinal defeat against South Burlington.
“South Burlington is always a bigger, more physical and super athletic team,” Mack said. “That’s how they make their money. And CVU are like a machine: It’s all about a system and everyone thinks about utilizing the strength of each other. They have a few star players and and it’s about getting them the disc as many times as they possibly can and they turn things into a track meet. South Burlington is big, strong and intimidating. And CVU is smooth, fast and adaptable. And both of those squads are very well-coached. Our identity has been up in the air this year. Right now, our focus is on smoother handler movement. And similar to CVU, we’re trying to put our best players in isolated power positions. Lately our identity is starting to clarify as a handler-dominated offense that is more conservative than it is risk-taking. We’ve shot ourselves in the foot by getting the lead and then getting out of our system by not being as conservative as we need to and then throwing the disc away. For us, the keys are resiliency on the mental side and absolute dogged hard work on the defensive and the physical side.”
One X-factor during this year’s postseason run for Montpelier could be the addition of volunteer coach Nolan Benoit to the team. Benoit led the Solons to back-to-back girls titles in 2019 and 2021 and is the uncle of one of Montpelier’s current stars.
“Nolan’s nephew is Evan Benoit, who is one of our standout freshmen,” Mack said. “As a newer coach, it’s really great to have the support of such an experienced Ultimate mind and to have a second set of eyes to gain perspective from. And making these adjustments means that we’re certainly capable of peaking at the right time in the high school season. One different defensive look can make all the difference in the world and I’m feeling hopeful. And it’s not like any one team in the top four are unbeatable.”
SOFTBALL
U-32 20, Thetford 17
THETFORD – Kaydence Smith went 4-for-6 at the plate Wednesday for the Raiders, who piled up 20 runs for the fourth game this season to outlast the Panthers during an old-fashioned slugfest.
“Both teams hit well today,” U-32 coach Mike Noyes said. “But we had some timely hitting and didn’t leave many runners on base.”
U-32 also relied on strong offensive showings by Elyse Kelley (3-for-3, double, three RBIs), Maryssa Rossi (3-for-5), Caitlin McGinley (two hits, double, one RBI) and Caroline Flynn (two hits, three RBIs).
Flynn earned the victory on the mound after giving up 11 hits over six-plus innings. She issued one walk and struck out three batters. Losing pitcher McKayla Stanley gave up 17 hits in the complete-game effort. She issued six walks and recorded six strikeouts.
Stanley was 3-for-5 offensively with a pair of doubles, while teammates Madi Mousley and Taylor West each went 2-for-5 with a double.The Olympians trailed 9-0 after the first two innings and struggled to catch up after U-32’s hot start.
A two-run double by Kelley and a one-single by Rossi sparked a four-run first inning by the Raiders. McGinley connected for a two-run single in the second inning and then U-32 extended its lead to 14-0 in the third frame, thanks to five straight hits with two outs. A two-run double by McGinley was the cherry on top of the inning for the Raiders.
Theford scored two runs in the bottom of the third and three runs in the bottom of the fifth to keep things interesting. The Panthers capitalized on three errors with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning to cap a seven-run frame. U-32’s Mya Gould came in to pitch with two outs and induced a groundout to end the threat.
Smith served up a two-out, two-run single in the top of the seventh to help U-32 extend its lead to 20-12. The Raiders committed two more errors in the bottom of the seventh and Flynn re-entered the game with one out and a runner on second base. She clamped down and induced a force-out and a groundout to end the game.
“Both teams played through some tough conditions, which led to some defensive mistakes,” Noyes said. “But I’m proud of the mental toughness we showed today. Credit Thetford: They were down 10 runs in the fifth inning and battled back to make it a very close game.”
U-32 improves to 9-5, while Thetford falls to 8-6. The Raiders will travel to play Oxbow for a 3 p.m. doubleheader Friday.
