White River Junction
The Canes defeated Mill River, 3-1, in Tuesday’s first-round match at the Maxfield Complex and will travel to Woodstock Friday with a trip to the semifinals on the line.
“I’m always hoping to play Woodstock,” said Pat McGlone, who scored on Tuesday for Hartford. “Woodstock is always a great challenge; they match up really well against us. … A win against them would be fantastic. It’s what we look forward to every year. It’s a great rivalry that we’ve developed over the years.”
The two Upper Valley squads are fairly familiar with one another. The No. 5 Canes (8-5-2) defeated the No. 4 Wasps (11-2-2), 2-0, in Woodstock on September 21, and the teams played to a 1-1 draw on Oct. 6 in White River Junction. Woodstock defeated Lamoille, 3-0, on Tuesday to set up Friday’s match.
The Hurricanes came out strong against the visiting Minutemen, scoring a goal with 7:30 elapsed.
Matt Libuda launched a pretty left-to-right cross from just outside the 18-yard line, and Ben Rouillard was waiting at the far post to convert the finish.
Hartford, which ended up peppering Mill River goalie Austin MacMurray with 24 shots, seemed to let down its guard after scoring the game’s first goal. The result was a Mill River equalizer by Simon Smith, assisted by Jonathan Mathews, with 26 minutes remaining in the first half.
“We dropped our level down, and our defensive pressure went away,” Canes coach Kevin Guilbault said of the lull. “But we definitely picked it up to start the second half, and I liked the way we continued with it throughout the second half. It’s going to take that type of effort to beat Woodstock.”
Less than two minutes into the second half, Hartford freshman Nick Jones blasted a shot that was deflected by MacMurray. McGlone was there for the cleanup goal, and the hosts took a 2-1 lead.
The Canes kept the pressure on this time instead of recoiling as they had done before. Their insurance goal came when Callum Brittain delivered a silver-platter through ball to McGlone with 13 minutes remaining in the game.
“Survive and advance,” Guilbault said following the chilly contest. “It’s cliche, but it’s the truth. At this time of year, it’s just about getting a win and getting on to the next round.”
It was 40 degrees at kickoff and snow pelted during the first half.
“You’ve just got to be mentally tough in games like this,” said Canes senior goalkeeper Jordy Allard. “The hail, the snow, whatever it was, it evened the playing field out.”
Tuesday marked the return of Kyle Prior to Hartford’s lineup. The talented junior, who led his team with 14 goals, missed the regular-season finale against Rutland due to an ankle injury suffered in the previous match at Burr & Burton (both Hurricane losses).
Prior, a player described by McGlone as always going 110 percent, was only at about 70 — by his own admission — against Mill River.
“I wasn’t as fast as I normally am,” Prior said. “I tried to play more balls, then run onto them. I was trying to move around and get (the ankle) running again.”
The playmaking forward positioned his head at the end of several long kicks. Most of the headers were attempts to set up teammates, but one second-half play was a breathtaking shot (set up by a Brittain feed) that glanced off the right post to the chagrin of the home crowd.
It was a glimpse of how dangerous Prior can be. How healthy he will be against Woodstock on Friday remains a question mark. Still, the Canes feel they have plenty of weapons in their arsenal as they head toward their next postseason test.
“We beat them and tied them, so we should be confident in terms of our ability to play with them,” Guilbault said of the higher-seeded Wasps. “It will be a good healthy rivalry, and the atmosphere will be outstanding. It will be a great high school soccer game. … Both teams will probably execute well, it’s just a matter of who makes the most plays.”
Hartford’s girls soccer team also won seven games during the regular season, and like their male counterparts, earned the No. 5 seed. The Canes will host Lyndon Institute today at Maxfield. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m.