WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — The Hartford High girls’ hockey team took its first step toward three consecutive VPA Division II state championships, defeating Woodstock High, 4-1, in a quarterfinal matchup at Wendell A. Barwood Arena on Friday night.
The Hurricanes’ offensive firepower was on full display in the contest. Senior Flynn Moreno led the way for Hartford with a goal and an assist. Freshman Maria Chaput, senior Zoe Zanleoni, and junior Grace Hayes each added a goal, while freshman Sophie Daniels notched two assists.
Heading into Friday’s matchup, the No. 2 seed Canes had defeated the No. 7 seed Wasps three times already this season. But Hartford Head Coach Jason Gramling wanted to make sure his squad didn’t let that impact their play.
“My biggest thing was don’t get complacent, keep going, working hard — pretend like you never played them before,” Gramling said.
The Canes were anything but complacent in this one, striking first on Chaput’s goal about three and a half minutes into the game.
While Hartford was not able to build on its lead in the first frame, it simply gave the Wasps no breathing room, holding them to one shot on goal in the period.
Like the first period, the second was all Hartford. The period was bookended by two goals, first from Zanleoni with 14:06 remaining and then from Moreno with 1:10 left.
The Canes headed into the third period with a 3-0 lead as Woodstock continued to struggle generating opportunities. By the end of the first two periods, the Wasps had registered just two shots on goal.
“We do a pretty good job of keeping pucks, putting pressure in the neutral zone, congesting the middle… We block a lot of shots, too, so I think that’s really where that success comes from,” Gramling said.
Despite going down three, the Wasps did have opportunities in the third period to make the game interesting, namely on the power play.
Ultimately, though, the Canes improved their lead to 4-0 on Hayes’ goal with 5:14 remaining, and that pretty much spelled the end of Woodstock’s chances.
The Wasps would go on to add one goal with under 30 seconds left on a shot from sophomore Josephina Palazzo, but by then it was too little, too late.
Hartford will host the winner of Burr & Burton and Harwood for a semifinal bout on Tuesday at a time to be determined.
Gramling’s emphasis for his squad as they march toward a three-peat is to keep that competitive fire going.
“You say, hey, you’ve won two, you don’t really have that much to gain, but you also hate to be the one that loses it,” Gramling said. “(Would) love to keep the streak going, (would) love to go to three.”
