By DAN BARILE
Eagle Times Correspondent
Boys Soccer
No. 3 Green Mountain 3, No. 1 Stowe 2 (OT)
Stowe struck first, but more importantly it was Green Mountain who struck last during its overtime victory in the Division 3 State Championship. Andrei Solzhenitsyn scored 10:32 into the first overtime to give Green Mountain its first state title since 2019.
Raz Backlund and Joachim Gibson also scored for Green Mountain, and Derek Hodgdon had another strong performance in goal. It was the final game on the pitch for Green Mountain seniors Reece Cassin, Gibson, Hodgdon, Evan Kirdzik, Caleb Merrow, Max Peebles, Solzhenitsyn, and Tanner Swisher, who capped off their final season with a 17-1 record.
Field Hockey
No. 2 Windsor 3, No. 1 Montpelier 1
Roughly 365 days after falling to Montpelier in last season’s Division 3 State Championship, Windsor was able to exact its revenge on Saturday at UVM. Grace Blanchard, Lily Prebish, and Olivia Dube each scored to help Windsor (12-4-1) earn its first state title since 2021. Mackenzie Kleefisch added 2 assists and Tatum Flanigan had 7 saves for the Yellow Jackets.
Girls Soccer
No. 2 Windsor 2, No. 1 BFA-Fairfax 1
The Division 3 State Championship game remained scoreless until the final minutes of the first half when each team found the back of the net within a minute of one another. Windsor’s Kenzie Westcott struck first by knocking in a perfectly placed corner kick by Audrey Rupp in the 33rd minute. Paige Cargill responded quickly for the Bullets to even the game at 1.
The game remained knotted at 1 until Windsor demonstrated some impressive teamwork on the game-winner with 5:09 left in the contest. Rupp crossed the ball to Sophia Dufour, who set up Lilly Keefe for the score. BFA-Fairfax suffered its first loss of the season, while Windsor finished its season with a 16-0-1 record.
No. 5 Stevens 1, No. 4 Hopkinton 0
A first half goal by Payton Ferland was the difference as Stevens advanced to the Division 3 semifinals for the third straight year. Addison Derosier assisted on the goal, and Audrina Pelton earned her 13th shutout of the season for the Cardinals. Stevens (15-3) will face top-seeded Gilford (17-0-1) in the semifinals at Bedford High School.
No. 2 Raymond 4, No. 7 Fall Mountain 0
Fall Mountain’s season came to a close in the Division 3 quarterfinals. Seniors Skyelar Blanchard, Sydney Byrne, Kendal Cote, Selah Fredrick, Emma Putnam, Clara Stewart and Mariella Tsitsionis played their final game for the Wildcats, who finished the season with a 12-6 record.
Cross-Country Running
Broadley wins Meet of Champions
After winning the individual title at the Division 3 State Championships in Thetford last weekend, Bellows Falls’ Desi Broadley followed it up with another spectacular performance by winning the Vermont Meet of Champions in Essex Junction. Broadley completed the 5k course against runners from all three divisions in a blazing fast time of 18:40.03. Broadley held off runner-up Acadia Enman of Mt. Mansfield by 10 seconds.
Kearsarge’s Daniel Dalbec was the top local performer at the New Hampshire Meet of Champions in Hudson, placing 22nd in 16:02. Fall Mountain’s Mathew Northcott (95th in 17:44) and Cerys Gascoyne (108th in 22:21) also competed in the highly competitive race.
