SOUTH BURLINGTON — Top-seeded Rice on Wednesday ousted the No. 4 Mount Abraham Union High School girls’ soccer team from the Division II playoffs, 4-0.
Rice (14-2), making its first appearance in the D-II postseason since 1998 after dropping down from D-I this fall, moved to a Saturday final vs. two-time D-II champion Milton (13-2-1).
The Eagles saw their eight-game winning streak — one that started with a 6-2 win at Rice on Oct. 4 — snapped and finished at 12-5. The two Lake Division programs face each other regularly during the season, but had not met in the postseason since squaring off in the 1997 D-II final, also a 4-0 Rice victory.
On this past Wednesday, Rice started quickly, with Alison Rouleau’s wind-aided goal in the second minute. Seven minutes later Abby McKeown curled in a corner kick to make it 2-0.
Alex Dostie netted the rebound of a Rouleau shot in the 28th minute, and Fiona Connolly added a second-half goal for the Green Knights on a breakaway.
The Eagles had a good second-half chance on a 20-yard bid from senior middie Casey Ober that Rice goalie Hannah Miller snared. Miller stopped seven shots and the Eagles’ Olivia Paine made three saves.
As well as Ober, a number of other Eagle seniors will graduate from Coach Dustin Corrigan’s team: Lydia Pitts, Emma LaRose, Molly Funk, Delana Tow, Vanessa Dykstra, Renee Bolduc, Abby Mansfield, Mariah Malloy, Jenna McArdle and Emma Carter.