Winooski, Vt.
Connor Brown scored all three goals in the first six minutes of the action to lead the No. 7-seed Panthers over the No. 2-seed Spartans.
The first came just 55 seconds in when Erik Lindahl fired a through ball to Brown for a quick-strike goal. Seth Boyce then fought hard for possession in the box three minutes later before finding Brown in the right spot for another strike into the back of the net.
The assault was capped in the sixth minute when Brown deposited a penalty kick past the Winooski keeper to put the visitors in front, 3-0.
“The kids are so excited. It shows you how strong the Capital League is. Winooski is fast and skillful, but we just played really well,” Thetford coach Mark Weigel said.
Now nursing a three-goal advantage, the Panthers relied on their hard-working defense to keep the edge. Weigel credited the leadership of defender Noah Perry and keeper Anthony Stoffel (six saves) along with rest of the back line and midfield for their work in preventing any sustained pressure by the Spartans.
“I think they were like, ‘OK, what just happened?’ but we did a great job defending them well and really disrupting their ability to connect passes,” Weigel said. “We had our lulls, which is understandable. We had some time where we had to re-adjust and get back to attacking. We did that and kind of leveled out after that.”
The victory improved Thetford to 10-5-1; Winooski finished 12-3-0. Brown leads the team with 22 goals and six assists this season.
Up next for the surging Panthers is a semifinal matchup on Tuesday afternoon against the winner of today’s game between No. 11 seed Peoples at No. 3 Williamstown.
“The kids can’t wait; we’re ready for the next one now,” Weigel said.
Woodsville
“We’re very excited, pumped up. It was a tough tournament game, and both teams played hard the whole game,” Woodsville coach Mike Ackerman said.
Seth Hannett assisted on Cataldo’s go-ahead goal, chipping a pass upfield to the junior attacker. Cataldo beat a pair of defenders and then slid a shot past the Moultonborough keeper for the goal.
Sophomore Cody Burroughs started the action for Woodsville, scoring off a Garrett Olsen corner in the eighth minute of the game for his first career varsity goal to give the hosts an early 1-0 lead.
Keeper Cooper Davidson had seven saves for the Engineers. Leading scorer Antonio Houde just missed on a pair of shots, including a would-be insurance goal with three minutes to play. Friday marked the first game all season in which Houde didn’t record a point. Woodsville outshot the Panthers, 13-8.
The No. 3-seed Engineers will face No. 2 seed Epping in the semifinals at 4 p.m., on Monday in Laconia, N.H. Woodsville lost 6-3 on Sept. 8 at Epping.
Rutland
Jacob Dow scored on a penalty kick with 11 minutes left to play for West Rutland. Keeper Isaac Hodgdon made four saves for the the Mountaineers.
“It was a battle the entire way. We played very well and had a couple good scoring opportunities,” Whitchester coach Corey Stearns said. “The boys played extremely hard; it could have gone either way. We have nothing to hang our heads about.”
Whitchester will graduate Hodgdon, Zak Gillette, Liam Walker, Taylor Washburn, Marcus Sheldon, Ambrose Wigglesworth and Leonardo Palumbo.
Littleton, n.h.
Michael Mullen, Carson Garland and Will Austin each scored for Sunapee. Austin, Mullen and Hank Vincent had assists. Littleton led 2-0 at halftime and then edged the hosts in a high-scoring barrage through the second half.
“I thought our team played well with them at times, but their quick, athletic counterattack was too much for our defense today,” Sunapee coach Jack Iacopino said in an email.
Keeper Will Palin had six saves for the visitors. The Lakers (10-8) graduate Vincent, Austin, Nate Emery, Isaiah Gorman, Yuyi Han, Virgile Bissonette-Blais, Austin LeBlanc and Andrew Sarnevitz.
Swanzey, n.h.
Stevens now awaits seeding in the New Hampshire D-III playoffs.
Langdon, n.h.
Hinesburg, Vt.
Rachel Seale led MVCS with seven kills, three blocks, six digs and three aces. Taylor Paquette had two kills and five digs. Emily Jasmin had seven assists and five digs. Grace Winter had five digs, a kill and one assist.
The Eagles will graduate both Paquette and Winter.
Canton, n.y.
Goalie Christie Honor made a career-high 30 saves for Dartmouth. Hailey Noronha, Brooke Ahbe, Tess Bracken and Alyssa Baker each had a pair of shots on goal. Kennedy Marchment and Kayla Wespa each scored for the Saints.
Dartmouth returns to action today at Clarkson.
Hanover
Dartmouth fell to 8-12 overall, 1-8 in the Ivy League. Princeton remains unbeaten at 9-0 in the Ivy League with an overall mark of 15-3.
Zoe Leonard led Dartmouth with 14 assists and 11 digs. Sarah Lindquist had a .375 hitting percentage along with six kills. The Big Green host Penn today at 5 p.m.