WINDSOR — The No. 11 Middlebury Union High School girls’ soccer team upset No. 6 Springfield in a first-round playoff game on Wednesday, 1-0, and will host a Division II quarterfinal on Saturday against No. 14 Fair Haven.
The playoff victory for the MUHS girls’ program is the first since at least the early 1990s.
The No. 14 Slaters pulled off a stunner of their own, knocking off No. 3 Green Mt. Valley, 2-0, on Tuesday. The 3-9-3 Tigers earned the right to host the 2-13 Slaters at 3 p.m. on Saturday by virtue of their higher seed. The winner will advance to a semifinal next week. The opponent will be decided on Saturday when No. 2 Milton (which won its first-round game) will play against the winner of a Thursday afternoon quarterfinal between Vergennes and U-32.
The Tigers’ game vs. Springfield was moved to Windsor when officials ruled both of Springfield’s fields were unplayable due to wet conditions.
MUHS took the lead with 6:39 to go in the first half, when Sara Boe sent in Mattea Bagley alone behind the Cosmo defense, and Bagley beat goalie Alaina Orth (three saves).
Tiger goalie Sydney Reigle posted the shutout with six saves, including stopping a first-half penalty kick and a second-half direct kick from just outside the box.
It was the fifth shutout of the fall for the Tiger defense, including a 1-0 win at Fair Haven on Sept. 22.
The Slaters knocked off GMVS (7-3) despite being outshot, 28-3. Goalie Megan Wooster made at least 20 saves to backstop the Slater win. Bethany Lanfear and Lexus Hardiman tallied for FHU, both with assists from Kendra Severance.
Also on Wednesday, No. 7 VUHS (6-6-2) was set to host No. 10 U-32 (4-7-3), and No. 13 Otter Valley (2-12) was set to visit No. 4 Harwood (9-4-1). Both those games were moved to Thursday because of poor field conditions.