ADDISON COUNTY — Highlights in recent local high school sports action include a home win for the Mount Abraham-Vergennes cooperative football team and victories by the Middlebury boys and Vergennes girls over rival soccer teams from Mount Abe.
The Tiger girls’ soccer team also hosted Mount Abe; click here to see that story.
FOOTBALL
On Saturday the Mount Abe-VUHS collective 7v7 football team outlasted visiting BFA-Fairfax, 28-21. The Eagles improved to 2-4 heading into a Tuesday game at St. Albans.
Each of the Eagle quarterbacks performed well, tossing two touchdown passes and one interception. Adam Mansfield completed 14 of 26 attempts for 176 yards, and Caleb Russell connected on 16 of 28 attempts for 206 yards.
Mansfield led the receivers with 12 catches for 167 yards and a touchdown. Joey Hemingway caught seven balls for 75 yards and a score, and Carmelo Miceli finished with five receptions for 83 and a touchdown. Jameson Couture also caught a touchdown pass for the Eagles.
Collin Dupoise made the game’s key defensive play with Fairfax driving deep into Mount Abe territory late in the game and the Eagles clinging to their 28-21 lead. On a third-and-10 play, Dupoise picked off a pass to seal the victory.
Also on Saturday host Rutland (4-3) turned back Otter Valley’s upset bid, 14-12. The 4-3 Raiders broke up OV’s attempt at a two-point conversion after Alex Polli’s fourth-quarter TD pass to Dylan Gaboriault made it 14-12.
Shortly afterward, Polli picked off a pass to give OV (2-5) another chance and then led the Otters into Rutland territory, but the Raiders broke up a fourth-down play to clinch the win.
Polli threw for 176 yards for the Otters, and younger brother Luca Polli tossed for 156 yards, 108 of them to Aidan Blier, and threw a first-quarter TD pass to Derek Raymond.
The Tigers’ Saturday game at Burr & Burton was postponed.
The Vermont Interscholastic Football League has announced regional playoffs that will include all three local teams. Details will be in Thursday’s print edition.
BOYS’ SOCCER
In a Wednesday battle of the unbeatens visiting Milton topped the Tiger boys, 3-2. Keeper Braeden Carragher made four saves for the 5-0 Yellowjackets. Lucas Nelson and Henry Carpenter scored for the Tigers, and Trey Bosworth picked up an assist. Owen Lawton made eight saves in net.
Also on Wednesday the Commodores blanked host Fair Haven, 2-0. Jonah Mahé and Jarret Muzzy scored, and keeper Gabe Kadric stopped one shot.
On Saturday the Eagles took a lead over host MUHS in the 23rd minute on a Branden Reynolds penalty kick. But the Tigers (4-1-1) earned a 3-1 win on two goals from Oliver Anderson, one unassisted just before halftime and one assisted by Owen Connelly in the second half, and one from Andy Giorgio.
Lawton backstopped the win with four saves, and Will Vichi made nine saves for the 2-4 Eagles.
Also on Saturday the Commodores cruised to a 6-0 win over visiting Spaulding. Avery Husk and Tucker Stearns each scored twice, and Muzzy and Shamus Rooney each contributed a goal and an assist. Kadric made one save as his team moved to 5-1-1. Kent Barcomb stopped eight shots for the struggling Tide.
GIRLS’ SOCCER
On Wednesday host VUHS edged Mount Abe, 1-0, when Sydney Weber netted the 77th-minute game-winner during a scramble following a corner kick. Kate Gosliga worked a three-save shutout for the Commodores, and Eagle keeper Joanna Toy stopped six shots. The Eagles fell to 1-4.
Host Rice topped the Tigers on Wednesday, 4-0, despite a combined 13 saves from MUHS goalies Audrey Schnoor (10) and Julia Bartlett (three). The Tigers dropped to 0-4-1.
On Friday, visiting Spaulding topped VUHS, 2-1, on two Sage MacAuley scores. Goalie Rebecca McKelvey made five saves. Savannah Thomann scored for VUHS (3-2-2) and Gosliga made one save.
On Saturday, host Springfield blanked OV, 2-0, despite eight saves from OV goalie Linnea Faulkner. OV Coach Tammi Blanchard, whose team dropped to 3-3, said midfielder Emily Peduto played well.
FIELD HOCKEY
On Thursday host D-I Rice dealt the Eagles their first loss, 3-2, in their final regular-season game. At 4-1 the defending champion Eagles apparently will the top seed in Division II. The Vermont Principals’ Association will release playoff pairings on Tuesday morning.
Against Rice, Txuxa Konczal scored and set up Olivia Campbell’s goal, and Eagle goalies Maddie Donaldson and Greta Jennison combined for seven stops. Three players scored for Rice, which rallied from a 2-1 second-half deficit, and goalie Theresa Strouse made six saves.
The OV field hockey team earned a pair of road ties last week and enters its Monday regular-season finale at Springfield with a 2-3-2 record.
On Wednesday OV tied host Woodstock, 1-1, taking the lead on an early Brittney Jackson goal, but not scoring again despite 13 penalty corners and a 12-6 edge in shots on goal.
On Thursday host Fair Haven surprised the Otters by knotting them up at 2-2. OV had defeated the 0-4-1 Slaters, 8-0, in Brandon earlier in the week.
The Slaters got a strong effort from goalie Laurel Boutwell and twice rallied from one-goal deficits. Chloe Shaddock and Abby Wetmore scored for FHU, and Alice Keith and Madison Colburn got the OV goals.
On Thursday host Champlain Valley defeated MUHS, 4-0. The Tigers put one shot on goal, while Tiger goalie Cassie Bettis made 18 saves.
On Saturday Bettis stopped another 18 shots and the Tiger defense kept host Essex off the boards in the first half, but the Hornets scored three times after intermission to take the win. Hornet goalie Adowyn Byrne made one save.