And a child shall lead them. Two children, in fact.
The Hartford High girls hockey team secured its third straight Vermont D-II state championship on Sunday evening at Gutterson Fieldhouse at UVM, thanks in large part to the efforts of two eighth-graders.
Forward Johanna Kissell had a hat trick and goaltender Aubree Grambling stopped all but one of at least 30 shots to help propel the Hurricanes to a 5-1 win over the U-32 Raiders.
“We played the game we wanted to play,” head coach Jason Gramling said in an interview.
For the Hurricanes, that meant relying on their netminder to keep the Raiders off the scoreboard and using opportunistic offense to build a lead throughout the game.
The two teams traded scoring chances in the first period, with Gramling confidently turning away U-32 shots in a prelude of things to come.
Hartford broke through with 2:10 remaining in the first period. Defender Grace Hayes created a turnover on the forecheck, and freshman Ali Morlock skated onto the loose puck and fired it into the top left corner of the net for a 1-0 lead.
Hartford doubled its lead early in the second period when Chase Stockwell backhanded a pass toward the net, and Kissell knocked the puck past the sprawling Raiders goaltender.
Facing a 2-0 deficit, U-32 dialed up the offensive pressure for the remainder of the period, and Gramling was more than up to the challenge.
When she wasn’t snatching Raiders’ shots out of the air with her glove, she was denying them with her blocker, paddle and pads. Gramling had multiple saves on a flurry of shots by U-32 during a power play five minutes into the period.
Later in the period, Gramling dove out to cover a loose puck in the slot. And in the final 10 seconds, she denied two more shots.
Hartford went to the second period intermission trailing 17-8 in shots but leading 2-0 on the scoreboard. The impact of the young goaltender’s performance on her team was palpable.
“I love watching her play,” Coach Grambling said of his goalie and youngest child. “She provides a lot of confidence to the team in front of her.”
Hartford extended its lead with 11:40 on a short-handed goal by Kissell, who intercepted a pass at the Hartford blue line and skated the length of the ice before cleanly beating the U-32 goalie high on the blocker side.
U-32 finally broke through on the ensuing faceoff. Still with a 5 v 4 advantage, when they snuck a wrist shot past Gramling from the point with 10:22 remaining.
But an interference penalty on U-32 would give the Hurricanes a power play of their own. It was Kissell again, this time on a centering pass from Maria Chaput, to make 4-1 with just over 9 minutes to play. Shots were 22-11 in favor of U-32.
Kissell’s hat trick was just the fourth ever in Vermont girls’ state tournament history.
“She’s a hard worker and she’s got great skill,” Coach Gramling said. “She’s got one of the heaviest shots I’ve ever seen in girls hockey.”
Kissell is one of three players from Bellows Falls, Vt., on the team, along with Hayes and Stockwell.
Senior Aubree Vail finished off the Hartford scoring with just 12.5 seconds to play off a feed from fellow senior Zoe Zanleoni. The pair were joined by Flynn Moreno as the only seniors on the roster.
All three finish their high school careers as three-time champions.