SWANTON — The Middlebury Union High School boys’ hockey team picked up three wins last week to continue its move up the Division II standings.
At 13-5, the Tigers have won 11 of their past 12 games to move into third place in the league, according to the Vermont Principals’ Association website. They have the best record within D-II — 12-1 — of all the league’s teams, with two of their losses to D-I foes and two to New York teams.
The Tigers have defeated the first-, second-, and fourth-place teams in the standings — Woodstock, Stowe and Mount Mansfield, respectively. They are set to conclude their regular season with a Monday game at 16th-place Lyndon and a Wednesday game at seventh-place St. Johnsbury.
One of their wins last week was a forfeit. They were set to play at Peoples on Thursday, a game that had been postponed from Feb. 4 at Peoples’ request.
On Saturday, the Tigers topped host Missisquoi, 6-1. After a scoreless first period, second-period goals by Keenan Bartlett (assisted by Jordan Stearns) and Justin Stone (from Nathan Lalonde) made it 2-0.
The Tigers poured it on in the third, with two more Bartlett scores, one from Rio McCarty, and one from Brett Viens that was his first career goal. McCarty, Tyler Crowningshield, Andrew Gleason and James Ploof picked up assists in the period. Goalie Sawyer Ryan stopped 20 shots vs. the T-Birds.
On Wednesday, the Tigers got goals from Stone, Crowningshield and Nick Audet in a key, 3-1 victory over visiting sixth-place Hartford (11-5-2). Ryan made 19 saves, while Mak Lyford had 20 saves for the Hurricanes.