JERICHO — The Middlebury Union High School girls’ lacrosse team avenged two regular season defeats on Tuesday, when the No. 4 Tigers defeated No. 1 Mount Mansfield, 9-5, in a Division I semifinal.
The 15-3 Tigers once again relied on strong defense and outscored the 15-3 Cougars by 6-1 in the second half. In three playoff games MUHS has allowed a total of 10 goals.
The Tigers will face No. 2 Mount Anthony (15-2) in the final at Burlington High School on Saturday at 4 p.m. Mount Anthony defeated No. 3 Champlain Valley Union, 11-10, in Tuesday’s other semifinal.
The Tigers will be seeking the program’s first title since 2008 and eighth overall. The Tigers last played for the title in 2013.
MUHS and Mount Anthony have not met this spring. They each have 7-1 records against common opponents: CVU, Burr & Burton, Rutland and Woodstock. The Tigers split with CVU, while the Patriots edged them on Tuesday. The Tigers defeated Burr & Burton twice, but the Bulldogs split with the Patriots. One matchup seems to favor the Tigers: On May 20, Mount Anthony won at Rutland, 18-16, while on May 26, the Tigers won at Rutland, 17-6.
In Tuesday’s semifinal, Mount Mansfield clung to a 4-3 halftime lead before Andi Boe scored twice in the first three minutes of the second half to put the Tigers on top for good. Isabel Rosenberg scored twice, and Emma Best (three goals total) and Satchel McLaughlin added second-half goals as the Tigers pulled away.
Goalie Raven Payne and the low defense of Annina Hare, Jessie Hounchell and Keagan Dunbar did the rest. Dunbar once again guarded the opponent’s leading scorer, in this case Cougar Karin Rand, and as was the case in the Tigers’ quarterfinal vs. Rice that player did not find the net.
Five players scored a goal apiece for Mount Mansfield, and Cougar goalie Anna Burke stopped eight shots.