Westminster, Vt.
The second-seeded Raiders (14-3-0) avenged a 1-0 loss to the Panthers earlier this season en route to claiming their second consecutive championship.
According to Stowe star Darien Boeger, who scored both goals Saturday, losing to Thetford on Sept. 24 provided the champs with a key turning point.
“We kind of made a switch after we lost to them in the regular season,” Boeger said. “We started putting all of our energy into playing for each other, rather than against the other team, and I think that made all the difference in the world.”
Stowe’s striker broke through the typically stingy Panther defense (10 shutouts), at the 59:38 mark and again five minutes later. The first goal, assisted by Selah Barrett’s long ball, came at the end of a counterattack that began when Stowe goalie Zoe Ruffle made a tough save on a bullet by Thetford freshman Casey McVeagh.
“Zoe had the game of her life,” second-year Stowe coach Tyler Post said. “(Thetford) had a great chance, and we immediately counter and score a goal. … If she doesn’t make that save, the game probably switches.”
Boeger’s second tally was one she set up herself by beating multiple Thetford defenders near the top of the box.
Top-seeded Thetford, which concluded its campaign at 13-3-1, appeared to score the game’s first goal two minutes before halftime, but it was called back due to a hand ball. Panther senior Regan Covey set up the opportunity by lofting one of her team’s seven free kicks into the Stowe box. Thetford fans cheered jubilantly, but only for a fleeting moment, as the officials quickly negated the goal.
Saturday’s match was back-and-forth, with neither team outpossessing the other. A multitude of long balls sent to the front by both squads made for brief offensive spurts before the tables would invariably turn.
Covey, owner of a hat trick in her team’s 4-1 semifinal win against Leland & Gray and the Panthers’ leading goal scorer (15) this season, spoke to the physical nature of the championship game.
“Both teams were extremely aggressive, maybe a little bit too aggressive,” she said. “But you know, they fought, we fought. We worked our butts off. It wasn’t our best game, but I’m proud to call every single one of those girls one of my teammates win, lose or draw.”
Thetford has plenty be proud of after winning 10 more games than it did in 2015.
“I think it’s because this year we bonded as a team and all got along,” said goalkeeper Danielle Robinson, a co-captain — with defender Emily Emerson — who posted 12 saves on Saturday. “Last year wasn’t really that way.”
Added Thetford coach Dave Williams: “We were putting things together from day one as far as what kind of team we wanted to be. Maybe in the beginning, we surprised a few teams and surprised ourselves. Then I think they knew we could compete with teams.”
The Panthers’ first-year coach seems to think the future looks bright.
“We had some freshmen contribute,” Williams said. “There was a good core who came up this year, and there’s no reason we shouldn’t be a competitive team for a good long while.”
Notes: Thetford got a first-round bye, then narrowly escaped Williamstown with a 1-0 win in the quarterfinal round. Williams described that win as “scratch and claw.” … Saturday marked Thetford’s first state title appearance since 2013, when it lost to Peoples, 4-1.