HU sports gear up for playdowns; girls soccer shows their mettle in double OT victory
October 24, 2020 | By Katie Martin Volleyball
Harwood 3, Randolph 0
On Saturday, Oct. 17, Harwood Girls Volleyball traveled to Montpelier to play Randolph and went on to win their second shutout match, 3-0.
The Highlanders won each of their sets by a close margin (25-21, 25-22, and finally 25-22). The team finished with 22 aces with senior Lynn Russell leading the team with 80, alongside sophomore Mia Lapointe with seven. Lapointe also led the team with passes during the match-up, and sophomore Aby Holter led the team with attacks.
Head coach Peter Arsenault said that due to the rainy weather conditions before the match, the game was slippery. Due to COVID-19 restrictions instead of indoor play in a school gym, the sport has been played outdoors this fall.
“Having a volleyball season has been challenging playing with the different elements compared to playing indoors. The wet ground due to the full day of rain beforehand led to some slippery play along with the challenge of the sun staring at you in the face when serve receiving and setting depending on what side of the court you were on,” said Arsenault.
The team was able to maintain the lead against Randolph who put up a fight - catching back up to Harwood’s lead and even tying the game at some parts. Arsenault said that Harwood’s serving was able to get the advantage back to the team and clinch the set win.
Due to rain, Harwood’s game against Vermont Commons was canceled last week, making their next match against Mid Vermont Christian School in White River Junction on Wednesday, Oct. 21.
Girls Soccer
Harwood 6, North Country 1
Harwood Girls Soccer traveled to match up against North Country on Friday, Oct. 16, where Harwood solidified the number-one seed spot for Division II girls soccer.
The Highlanders came ready to play, making quick work of putting the first score on the board just five minutes into the first half with a sister-sister effort, Quinn Nelson assisted her older sister Tanum to start the Highlanders out with a 1-0 lead.
Twenty-two minute into regulation, Tanum would earn their second goal for Harwood. North Country got their first, and only goal of the game six minutes later when Cora Nadeau scored through a free-kick.
At 2-1, Harwood picked up momentum when Lousia Thomsen scored with help from Ashley Proteau. Nelson would score her third goal of the game within minutes of the last Highlanders goal, earning herself a hat-trick. At the end of the first half Harwood led 4-1.
Thomsen got the Highlanders rolling in the second half, starting out early on the field scoring her second of the game in the opening minutes. The final goal of the game came from Katie Rush on a free kick that bounced off and rebounded off the goalie into the goal.
Ellet Merriman, team manager called it an amazing game: “A phenomenal game from the defensive line, the rain didn't stop them from going hard to the ball and finding feet. Both Poppy Woods and Sarah Bartolomei made some beautiful saves in goal.”
In preparing for their next game, the girls team focused on creative shots on net, ball crosses, and keeping a positive and competitive mindset.
Harwood 2, Thetford 1
An exciting double overtime against Thetford Academy on Monday, Oct. 19, had fans on the edges of their seats to see who would pull off the win until the final two minutes of the second round when Harwood’s Tanum Nelson scored the game-winner with an assist from Emma Ravelin.
The Highlanders started off strong in the first part of the game, trying hard to defend the winning streak they’ve held all season. The game quickly picked up intensity as Thetford was the first to strike and get a goal on the board when Emi Vaughan scored. The goal went unanswered until late in the second half with four minutes to go when junior Tanum Nelson scored on a free kick, tying the game.
Heading into overtime, Harwood knew they needed to step it up. The Highlanders were able to control their ball touches and maintain ball possession on Thetford’s side of the field.
Team manager for the Highlander squad, Ellett Merriman, said freshman Tessa Jernigan played extremely well during the game and made well-placed passes. “She was also quite speedy up and down the field. She set up for some beautiful shots on goal, just short of rolling in,” Merriman said.
Ending the first overtime tied 1-1, the Highlanders huddled together, where Nelson told the team “I’m not tying this game.” Highlanders went on the attack and gave it their all and continued to keep the ball on Thetfords’ defensive end in the double overtime. Nelson would be the one to find the back of the net after teammate Emma Ravelin lined her
up with a pass -- achieving the 2-1 double overtime victory that would keep the winning streak alive for Highlanders.
Harwood 5, Stowe 0
Celebrating their senior night, Harwood Girls Soccer kicked off another shutout win against neighboring rivals, the Stowe Raiders on Wednesday, Oct. 22, at home.
Seniors being honored for Harwood included: Ashley Proteau, Anda Gulley, Katie Rush, Siena Mazer, Sage Devereux, Sarah Bartolomei, and team manager Ellett Merriman.
The Harwood girls brought their A game to celebrate the seniors, starting off strong and maintaining strong ball possession in the first half. The first goal was scored 20 minutes into regulation by sophomore Tela Haskell who wasted no time after returning to playing from a knee injury. Haskell was assisted by teammate Kayla Yalicki.
In the second half, Tanum Nelson scored two goals to boost Harwood in the opening minutes. “Harwood girls continued to keep up the intensity and play hard against the quite physical Stowe team. Anda Gulley, a senior, played a very good game keeping the ball out of the box and giving it to the midfielders to move up the field,” said manager Merriman.
The fourth goal was made by junior Emma Ravelin who scored in the last six minutes of the game -- followed by Ashley Proteau who scored with an assist from Ravelin. The final score: 5-0, Highlanders. The girls team is now the third seed at (7-0-0) behind Fair Haven Union High School, and U32, also both with (7-0-0) record, just with higher points on the season.
The Highlanders travel today to faceLake Region High School before the start of the playoffs.
Field Hockey
Harwood 5, Milton 0
In their final regular season game, the Highlanders hosted Milton on Monday, Oct. 19, for a shutout win that gave Harwood momentum into their first playdown game.
Harwood came out strong and fierce for their last home game. Starting out early, Harwood got on the board in the first quarter when junior Maeve Dewey scored on an assist from senior Gwyenth Clough on an offensive corner.
Harwood kept the 1-0 lead for the first quarter; in the second quarter freshman Amy Cook scored her first varsity goal in her high school career with 13 minutes remaining.
Junior Rachel Goodwin scored the third Highlander goal with seven minutes to go, immediately followed by senior captain Charlotte Cook who scored with less than a minute remaining off of a penalty corner. Goodwin scored the fifth and final goal with nine minutes to go in the third.
Highlander Coach Sophie Tretiak said her team really came together for the last few games of the season: “The team worked well together today, they had strong passing and communication. We are looking forward to the postseason after a short regular season!”
Harwood 0, Lyndon 2
In their first game of the postseason, the Highlanders who finished the regular season (2-5-0), finished sixth-seed and traveled to play against third-seeded Lyndon Institute on Oct. 22.
Harwood previously had won their last two games leading up to the playoffs, giving them a good send-off into the quarterfinal round against Lyndon (5-2-0) for the season.
The game started evenly paced with both teams unable to score in the majority of the first quarter. With the final buzzer sounding for the end of the first quarter, a corner was called against Harwood in the defensive zone, which had to be played out until the ball was cleared from the circle. The corner resulted in the first goal for Lyndon when Delaney Raymond scored off an assist from Lyndon’s Sarah Tanner.
Lydon led 1-0 until the last half of the third quarter when, with 12 minutes remaining, Lyndon’s Jamie Fenoff maneuvered around Highlander’s defense to sink the final goal of the game, 2-0.
Senior goaltender Kaylee Cameron played in goal for Harwood and had six saves; Lyndon had nine offensive corners against Cameron and her defense. Harwood had six offensive corners against Lyndon’s Emma Newland in net, who ended the game with one save.
Ending the 2020 season, Coach Tretiak said that she and her team were thankful for the opportunity to play this season. “Harwood played strong and had the momentum early. Maggie Aiken, Gwyneth Clough, and Charlotte Cook all played in the midfield for Harwood and played very strong. The team is grateful that we were able to have a season and allowed to play,” she said.
Boys Soccer
Stowe 3, Harwood 2
Harwood's Morgan Frank gets in between Stowe and the ball. Photo by Sarah Milligan.
Harwood's Chris James gets the header in a tight moment against Stowe last week. Photo by Sarah Milligan.
On Tuesday, Oct. 20, Boys Soccer matched against neighboring rivals, the Stowe Raiders at home. Stowe was first on the board early in the game when just three minutes into regulation, Henry Riley passed the ball to teammate T.J. Guffey who netted one for the Raiders.
Harwood tied the game 10 minutes later when Gavin Thomsen scored in the 13th minute of playing time and scored unassisted. The 1-1 tie held until the 55th minute when Stowe’s Adrian Bryan scored unassisted to give the Raiders a boost in the game.
Thirteen minutes later, Stowe would take the upper hand again when Wiley Barnet, assisted by the Raiders’ Jono Nissenbaum scored what would be the game winning third goal.
“We had control of the possession for a long time in the first half. We also played through a two goal deficit and didn't quit. Defensively we kept the ball when we could to force Stowe to transition to defense for longer chunks of time,” said Highlander Coach Joe Yalicki.
The Highlanders tried to rally back in the 71st minute of playing time when senior Hayden Adams assisted Sawyer Simmons. The late rally would short the lead, but regulation time ran out leaving the score 3-2 at the final buzzer.
Highlights from the game from Yalicki included his team's dribbling: “Hayden's goal was particularly impressive dribbling around three defenders and beating the best goalkeeper we have faced this year. He also played in a great ball that Sawyer headed in during our comeback bid,” Yalicki said.
On Friday, the boys traveled for their last regular season game against Lake Region and ended with a 5-1 win heading into the playoffs next week.
Katie Martin is the JV and middle school field hockey coach at Harwood Union High School and a member of the Waterbury Select Board.