MIDDLEBURY — On Monday morning it became official: The Middlebury Union High School boys’ soccer team made history this fall by earning the top seed in Division I for the first time in program history.
At 12-1, the Tigers earned a quality point rating in the Vermont Principals’ Association standings of 4.077 to edge out No. 2 Champlain Valley, which earned a quality point rating of 4.071 with a 12-1-1 record.
The Tigers posted eight shutouts in 13 games, and outscored their opposition by 37-7. Their only loss came in double overtime at No. 3 seed Colchester, 3-2.
The team was set to open its quest for the program’s first state championship on Wednesday afternoon, when the Tigers were scheduled to host No. 16 Spaulding (3-9-2).
If the Tigers held serve on Wednesday, the competition will quickly get stiffer. They will host either No. 8 Harwood (10-4) or No. 9 St. Johnsbury at 3 p.m. on Friday. Harwood dealt CVU its only loss of the season, and St. J posted a home win over Harwood in the teams’ final game of the regular season.
If the Tigers reach the semifinals and the tournament runs to form, their most likely opponent would be either No. 4 Hartford (10-2-2) or No. 5 Burlington (11-2-1). Burlington plays a more challenging schedule than Hartford and defeated the Hurricanes this fall, 1-0, and also defeated Colchester, 2-0.
But MUHS, by virtue of its high seed, also earned the right to host those games and will enjoy home-field advantage. They have surrendered only two goals while going 7-0 on Fucile Field.
The final will be played at Burlington High School at a time to be announced on Saturday, Nov. 3.