ADDISON COUNTY — In local high school field hockey late last week, Otter Valley snapped a short losing skid, Mount Abraham took its first loss and rallied to tie another game, and Middlebury dropped a pair of close contests.
OTTERS
On Saturday the Otters defeated visiting Spaulding, 4-0, in the last regular season home game for seniors Sophie Markowski, Gabriella LaGrange and Jordan Laraway. The goals came from Isabella Falco, Morgan Trombley, Alia Edmunds (who also picked up an assist), and Riley Keith. OV goalie Elinor Ross made seven saves, while Spaulding’s Abigail Stacy made 13.
The Otters improved to 7-4 and moved into third place in Division II with two road games left, at Fair Haven on Wednesday and at Windsor on Saturday. The race for the second through fifth seeds is close, with the Nos. 2, 3 and 4 seeds as well as the top seed guaranteed a home quarterfinal before the remaining games are played on neutral turf fields.
EAGLES
On Wednesday host D-I foe Essex dealt Mount Abe its first loss of the season, 2-0. The Hornets got goals late in each half, and goalie Kayla Ferreira worked a seven-save shutout. Eagle goalie Chessley Jackman made eight saves.
On Friday the Eagles got two second-half goals from Jalen Cook to erase a 3-1 halftime deficit and tie visiting D-I Rice, 3-3. Molly Laurent provided the only first-half answer to three Rice strikes, and Jackman stopped seven shots.
At 7-1-3 the Eagles remain atop the D-II standings entering the final week, during which they will play two more D-I foes and D-II U-32 (2-9). One more win will nail down a home quarterfinal for the Eagles.
TIGERS
On Wednesday the Tigers held visiting Colchester in check, but the Lakers improved to 8-0-2 with a 2-0 victory.
On Friday, the Tigers similarly limited host Champlain Valley, but came up short in another 2-0 setback. The defense and Tiger goalie Cassie Bettis (10 saves) allowed only a first-half penalty stroke and a late insurance goal. Goalie Kristy Carlson made one save for CVU (6-5-1).
The 1-10 Tigers could still host a D-II play-in game.