Stowe, Vt.
The No. 4 Wasps (15-6-1), who split two games with top-seeded Stowe (18-2-2) during the regular season, played a strong, scoreless first period before letting down their guard ever so slightly.
Less than 10 seconds after the puck was dropped on the second period, Stowe’s Abby Chauvin gathered it, sped toward the Woodstock net, and connected on a shot past goalie Bridgit Black.
Chauvin’s goal was an instant shot of momentum for the hosts, who saw their ultimately large home crowd trickle into the matinee matchup. The tide appeared to turn 90 seconds later when Woodstock right wing Anna Hepler, drove the length of the ice on a breakaway before she was brought down behind the Stowe goal.
Stowe’s Izzy Masi was whistled for a two-minute tripping penalty to set up the first of Woodstock’s two power-play opportunities on the evening.
What seemed like cause for optimism quickly worked against the Wasps, however, as Sage Lively scored a short-handed, unassisted goal for the Raiders.
Woodstock had trouble overcoming its lapse.
“I think there was just those few minutes at the beginning of the second period that we didn’t have that intensity we needed to keep up with them,” Hepler said. “Those are fast, talented girls out there, so you’ve got to be playing with your 100 percent or they’re gonna get you, and that’s what they did.”
It wasn’t the first time Woodstock had given up a short-handed goal, according to coach Ian Coates; it actually happened twice within the same penalty during an early season game.
The mishap may have been a tough pill to swallow at the time, but it provided the Wasps with valuable experience to draw on in the postseason.
“I think if our team hadn’t been in that situation before, it could have been different,” Coates said. “But the game didn’t get away from us, we just couldn’t generate as much offense as we needed to keep up with Stowe.”
Stowe coach Adrien Melrose, who will guide the Raiders to their first state final appearance since 2006 on Monday against Missisquoi, acknowledged his team’s second goal was the turning points.
“The short-handed goal, that was definitely a big one,” Melrose said. “It changed the course of the game. … (If) they score there, it’s 1-1, you never know what happens, but you make it 2-0 there, that’s huge.”
The Wasps continued to play hard and never let Stowe pull away, but they couldn’t solve Raiders goalie Leo Clark.
Clark came up big on several occasions, including a Woodstock barrage late in the second period. The Wasps’ Sammy Yates, Lauren Forgione and Faye Stevens each delivered legitimate bids that were thwarted by Clark.
Woodstock’s best chance of the game occurred with five minutes remaining in the third period, when Hannah Coates fed Forgione for a one-timer that Clark had to lay fully out for in order to save. It was a gem by the skilled sophomore.
A few such key plays helped dictated the outcome of the game.
“It wasn’t like huge mistakes, but it really came down to two unassisted goals against us,” Coates said. “That says a lot for a team. I was hoping for a little more offense generated by our team. We tried — give the other team a lot of credit, they were here for a reason, (they’re) a good team and that’s how it played out.”
Coates’ team, which tied the program’s record for most wins for the second consecutive season, reached the semifinals for the third time in program history.
Woodstock will graduate only one senior, Lauren Forgione.
Hepler, one of Woodstock’s seven juniors, shared her take on the season finale.
“This is a great bunch of girls, I love playing with all of them,” Hepler said.
“This one could have gone either way. … It was going to be a close game. We made some mistakes and we couldn’t quite get there, but it was a good season and I’m glad we did what we did.”