By Tom Haley
THE RUTLAND HERALD
Bellows Falls Union High School is tucked away in a little corner of Vermont, much closer to New Hampshire and Massachusetts than to Chittenden County.
Chittenden County is the home of the Division I field hockey powers, teams like South Burlington, Essex and other big schools where they wield big sticks.
That makes Bellows Falls a Division I field hockey school without a D-I rival.
“The only Division I team we play is Rutland,” Bellows Falls coach Bethany Coursen said on Tuesday after escaping D-II Otter Valley’s upset bid in overtime.
Coursen said she knows little of the teams on the Division I landscape.
Her Terriers do finally get to see the Chittenden powers every year in the playoffs because Bellows Falls always seems to make the run all the way to the title contest.
Next year, this all changes. Coursen will have a schedule with a sprinkling of the northern teams.
“Three of those teams have already said that they are willing to play us,” Coursen said.
This year, though, the Terriers just might be playing as tough a schedule as anyone because the Division II teams that they are facing are elite — teams that would more than hold their own in the rigors of Division I.
It is doubtful that they will take any of those teams lightly after receiving that scare from Otter Valley in the 4-3 overtime victory. “I came up here thinking that it would be an easy game. I’m not going to lie,” Bellows Falls junior forward Ava LaRoss said. “That can’t be our mindset.”
“Division II is very strong this year,” Coursen said.
Hartford, Woodstock, U-32, Spaulding, Burr and Burton Academy and Otter Valley are all in the Rutland Herald/Times Argus power rankings this week and perennial power Mount Abraham very well could be.
“Division II is stacked,” Coursen said.
Right in the thick of this stacked lineup are neighbors U-32 and Spaulding.
The game between the two would be a big game anyway simply for bragging rights in the neighborhood.
This year, it is a lot more than that. Both U-32 and the Crimson Tide are championship contenders.
They met recently in Barre Town and U-32, who could be known as the Iron Women as much as the Raiders, beat the Tide 3-1.
The Raiders were playing with no subs in that game and had only one reserve in the next game against Montpelier.
Kiki Hayward has long done a good job of keeping the ball out of the net as the U-32 goalie.
She might be even better at putting the ball in the net. She became a field player only for the second time in the game against Spaulding and scored two of the three goals.
Linnea Darrow, who took Hayward’s spot in the goal, made six saves in holding the Tide’s normally high-powered attack to the one goal.
The Tide was also depleted on that day and forced to put a number of JV players on the field.
Now, we are getting closer and closer to that “second season.” The neighbors will be tough outs in the playoffs for anyone, whether are closer to full strength by that time or not.
Here are this week’s Rutland Herald/Times Argus power rankings. Last week’s ranking is in parentheses. The rankings were constructed prior to Wednesday’s games.
1. Bellows Falls 6-0-1 (1) Part of being a champion is finding a way. The Terriers have been in the pressure cooker recently and have found a way to avoid a loss against very good teams.
2. Hartford 6-0-1 (2) The Hurricanes are the top Division II team in this week’s rankings but they have a long list of comparable teams to fight off in this strong and deep division.
3. Woodstock 7-0 (3) The Wasps defense has been impregnable.
4. Essex 5-0 (7) Like Woodstock, the Hornets can hang their hat on defense.
5. U-32 8-1 (6) The signature win against Spaulding already in their back pocket, exciting times could be ahead for the Raiders. Could that include another meeting with the neighboring Crimson Tide in the playoffs?
6. CVU 3-1 (4) The Redhawks failed to score in a loss to Rice.
7. Spaulding 8-1 (5) The Tide bounced back from the 3-1 loss to U-32 with a 5-1 victory over Stowe.
8. Burr and Burton 6-3 (UR) The Bulldogs hammered Brattleboro but even more impressive was the 2-1 loss to Hartford.
9. South Burlington 5-1-1 (9) The Wolves have won four straight. They are a familiar team in the Division I title game and do not discount the possibility of them being back.
10. Otter Valley 6-3 (UR) The Otters showcased a rare blend of speed and skills in the overtime loss to Bellows Falls.
TOP FIVES
Division I — 1. Bellows Falls 2. Essex 3. CVU 4. South Burlington 5. Rice.
Division II — 1. Hartford 2. Woodstock 3, U-32 4. Spaulding 5. Otter Valley
Division III — 1. Lyndon 2. Fair Haven 3. Windsor 4. Montpelier 5. Harwood.
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