ADDISON COUNTY — Both Middlebury in Division I and Mount Abraham in D-II suffered one-goal losses in first-round high school field hockey playoff games, while Otter Valley, the only team to earn a first-round home game, will swing into action on Friday.
TIGERS
On Tuesday, the No. 9 Tigers lost at No. 8 Rutland in D-I, 2-1. Host Rutland improved to 5-7-2 after getting unassisted goals from Sophie Tanen and Marina Rotella and five saves from goalie Emily Lanzillo.
Senior Lily Smith scored for the 3-12 Tigers in her last game for the program.
EAGLES
In D-II, No. 5 Mount Abe (6-8-1) dropped a 1-0 heartbreaker at No. 4 Springfield (9-4-1) on Wednesday. After a first half in which the teams combined for only one shot on goal, the Eagles pressed early after the break.
But the Cosmos took the lead midway through the second half, and Cosmo goalie Aunna Parker made huge saves on Eagles Jackie Reiss, Hannah Wahl andCelia Heath down the stretch to preserve the shutout.
OTTERS
Also in D-II, Otter Valley (7-5) earned the No. 3 seed and will host No. 6 Burr & Burton at 3:30 p.m. on Friday. The defending champion Otters will be trying to avenge a 3-2 regular season home upset by the 6-5-3 Bulldogs.
Friday’s winner will advance to a semifinal to be played at 6 p.m. on Monday at Middlebury College’s Kohn Field. Awaiting will be  No. 2 Woodstock (9-4-1), which defeated OV this fall, 2-0, in Woodstock. Springfield and No. 8 Harwood (6-6-1) will play at 3:30 on Monday at Middlebury in the other semifinal.
The D-II final will be played at the University of Vermont on Saturday at a time to be announced.