Highlanders host girls and boys soccer quarterfinal matches today

October 30, 2020  |  By Katie Martin

Fall high school championship season is well underway and Harwood Girls and Boys Soccer both advance to the quarterfinal matches at home today. 

The boys seeded No. 3 lead off at 10 a.m. hosting the Montpelier Solons, seeded sixth. 

The undefeated No. 2-ranked girls play 10th seed Lamoille Valley at home at 2 p.m.

Harwood Union’s season spectator policy still applies for playoff matches. Spectators are not allowed unless they get on a list through the team. 

Girls soccer

Harwood 5, Lake Region 1

Girls Soccer played their last regular season game away against Lake Region, on last Saturday, Oct. 24. The Highlanders finished their season strong with another high-scoring victory.

Harwood dominated the game from the start, scoring their first goal in the first five minutes of regulation. Lousia Thomsen scored for Harwood from a penalty kick after Lake Region was called for a trip in their defensive box.

Lake Region fired back with a goal of their own, coming from number eight, Madison Bowman scored. Harwood picked up intensity for the rest of the game, and got another on the board when Thomsen assisted teammate Ashley Proteau with 24 minutes remaining in the half. 

“Once we scored the second goal, the girls went back on their heels, but this didn’t last long. During the second half we continued to dominate and worked a lot on switching the field to our open players and then crossing to goal. Our wing midfielders used the little space they had to get wide and call for the ball,” said senior team manager, Ellett Merriman.

The team fed off the energy from cheering players on the sideline, Merriman added, which only escalated when Harwood’s Tela Haskell scored the third goal for Highlanders with 18 to go in the second half. Thomsen managed a last-minute goal, literally, with 46 seconds left on the clock. 

“This game wrapped up a beautiful undefeated season for Harwood’s varsity girls soccer team, with 48 total goals and 26 assists. The team was only scored on four times,” Merriman said. “It’s been a phenomenal season and everyone is sad to see it end but excited to ‘take back the chizzy’ as everyone on the team would say.” 

The schedule broke in Harwood’s favor for a rest and a bye in the post-season playdown round. 

Harwood (8-0-0) is ranked No. 2 behind Fair Haven (also 8-0-0) in the playoffs. Saturday’s matchup is against No. 10 Lamoille (3-4-1) who knocked off No. 7 Springfield (6-3-1) in the playdowns. 

After Saturday’s match, the winner will face whomever survives the quarterfinal match between No. 3 U-32 (7-1-0) and No. 6 Milton (6-2-0). The semi-final round is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 4, at 2 p.m. and the state title match is Saturday, Nov. 7, in South Burlington.

Boys Soccer

Harwood 7, Fair Haven 0

Harwood senior Morgan Frank tries to connect in Wednesday's playoff game against Fair Haven. Photo by Sarah Milligan.

On Wednesday, Oct. 28, No. 3 Harwood, hosted No. 14 Fair Haven High School in the Vermont Principals Association playdown round. The Highlanders (7-2-0) handily eliminated Fair Haven (1-7-0), 7-0. 

Harwood started out strong, utilizing the whole field for passing and back passing to spread out their players and get a system down. Harwood scored early and never looked back. 

Harwood Boys Soccer Coach Joe Yalicki gives direction during Wednesday's playoff against Fair Haven. The Highanders won 7-0. Photo by Sarah Milligan.

Skylar Platt scored twice in the first half along with Gavin Thomsen, Jordan Schullenberger, and Zach Smith. Platt, Jack Birmingham and Xavier Brookens returned for more in the second half. 

Smith, Hayden Adams, Sawyer Simmons and Finn O’Hara all logged assists and goal keepers Jake Collier and Dylan Mauro each spent time in the net. 

The boys take on Montpelier (5-3-0) in Saturday’s quarterfinals. The winner will face No. 15 Lake Region (0-7-2) who eked out their first win of the season knocking seventh-seeded U-32 (4-4-0) out of the tournament in Friday’s playdown round, 1-0. 

The semi finals are scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 3 at 2 p.m., location TBA. The other semi final matchup will pair No. 4 Middlebury (5-2-1) against undefeated first-place Milton (8-0-0). They each won their quarterfinals games Friday afternoon; Middlebury defeated No. 5 Woodstock, 4-1 while Milton handed No. 9 Northfield/Williamstown a blistering 10-0 defeat. 

The state title match is Saturday, Nov. 7, in South Burlington. 

Volleyball

The short season came to a busy close for the Highlanders. This past week featured play in a postseason tournament given that no state playoffs were slated for this year.

That followed a busy final week of regular play however. Here’s a recap: 

On Tuesday, Oct. 20, Harwood Volleyball served off against Mid Vermont Christian School and lost all three of their sets. Head coach Peter Arsenault said the team had many errors leaving much room for improvement. 

On Wednesday, Oct. 21, the team celebrated senior night at Montpelier High School. Again, however, Harwood lost their sets (22-25,20-25,11-25). Arsenault said that the game was competitive with the Highlanders keeping the scores close, but ultimately the serves received and overall errors caught up to his squad. Serving for the Highlanders was Sophomore Teras Wood.

On Friday, Oct. 23, Harwood traveled to St. Johnsbury. “The game was much more exciting than the score reflects. Had some very good rallies and competitive play,” Arsenault said. “Serving was our best asset (33% of our serving attempts came out as 'aces'.) Senior Lynn Russell led with 9 service points and led the team with 5 kills along with 9 digs defensively to help keep the ball in play.”

With the regular season done, Harwood was invited to play in a postseason tournament along with St. Johnsbury, Mid Vermont Christian, and Montpelier.  The first round was last Wednesday, Oct. 28. The Highlanders were defeated by St. Johnsbury, 2-3, with score sets (25-21, 25-20,08-25, 08-25, 15-17) during the semifinal round.

“Harwood came out strong in the start with high energy and consistent play all around to take the first two sets. St. Johnsbury came back hungry, getting a strong lead in the beginning with their serving which made it difficult to have Harwood turn it around,” Arsenault said. 

In the fourth set, St. Johnsbury was able to take the lead when Harwood made a few errors in serve-receiving and transitions trying to get the ball back over the net. Trying to rally back, Harwood’s Lynn Russell served up a mean streak, allowing Harwood to get a fast, five-point lead. St. Johnsbury wasn’t going down easily, slowly catching up to each point, taking the win with the final buzzer.

“Harwood played a strong game showing what they are truly capable of with all-around play. Their passing came to life which then allowed a good opportunity to see what they are capable of with using their whole front row for an attack providing the opportunity to consistently get the ball on to St. J's side to allow them to make the mistakes,” Arsenault said. 

A reminder that this year’s COVID-19 adjustments to fall sports meant that volleyball was played outdoors. The rain and muddy surface did not make it easy to play on Wednesday. “There was plenty of slipping around that led to a lot of dead balls. This sure makes you think what they would be capable of if they were able to play indoors!” Arsenault offered.

Senior Lynn Russell led the team with eight aces and 19 points overall. Sophomore outside hitter Ava Lawson had a strong game, keeping the ball in play with impressive passing.

Katie Martin is the JV and middle school field hockey coach at Harwood Union High School and a member of the Waterbury Select Board.