BRISTOL, Vt. — Mary Stetson keeps a patch of turf set up out front of Mount Abraham Union High School just for training the most important strategic element of field hockey.
It’s only a quarter the size of a regulation field, but it contains all the veteran coach needs — a goal and the two semicircles that represent scoring territory, where penalty corners can decide a game. Stetson’s MAU Eagles practice corners regularly, and they finish them well.
Top-ranked Mount Abe converted three times on 15 corner attempts, the first of which kicked off a six-goal run in the Eagles’ 8-2 victory over No. 4 Woodstock in a VPA Division II semifinal on Tuesday. Sophomore forwards Olivia Campbell and Madison Gile both recorded three-goal hat tricks for Mount Abe (6-1-0), which advances to a Saturday championship date with either Burr & Burton or U-32 at South Burlington High School.
“I don’t think there’s a substitute for a well-executed penalty corner,” Stetson said. “I think, when you get into the circle, you want a goal or you want a corner. That’s what the kids are trained to do.”
The Wasps (5-3-1) got off to a superb start, opening the scoring in the game’s sixth minute. Mount Abraham produced their first successful corner exactly three minutes later, took the lead for good less than a minute after that and kept right on coming.
“They’re a very, very good team,” Woodstock coach Wendy Wannop conceded. “Their sticks in front of the circle were outstanding. We got that first goal; I thought we started the game well momentum-wise. Then I thought maybe we sat back a little after we scored, and they picked up the momentum and took it down.”
The Wasps’ Lily Gubbins gave her team the opening it desired by knocking home the rebound of a Lilia McCullough drive past Mount Abe goalie Maddie Donaldson (six saves) just 5:34 into the contest. All of that corner work brought the Eagles quickly back, Campbell getting her first goal of the day on a Gile feed at 8:34.
The two connected again just 44 seconds later, Campbell settling down a bouncing pass from Gile before pushing it past Woodstock goalie Audrey Emery (five saves). Gile knocked home two second-quarter goals — the first unassisted, the second on a Molly Laurent penalty-corner pass — to push the hosts’ lead to 4-1 at halftime.
“We get a little back on our heels to start; it happened against Hartford the other day, and it happened again today,” said Stetson, referencing the Eagles’ 2-1 quarterfinal win over the Hurricanes on Friday. “I’m just proud that they can really dig down and have that grit and determination to come back.”
Campbell completed her hat trick on — what else? — a penalty corner at 6:50 of the third quarter, jamming home a Laurent pass at the left post. Gile completed her three-bagger with 3 seconds left in the period.
Gubbins broke up the run with her second goal of the afternoon and team-best eighth of the season on a Tobin Calder assist with 5:18 left in the game. Sarah Lavigne struck twice late for the Eagles.
The Wasps didn’t have much of a chance once the Eagles put them in a corner.
“The girls love the sport, they worked hard and their conditioning was really good,” Wannop said. “Their skills improved. Their speed improved. There was a lot of growth this season.”
Stick Checks: The Wasps’ Sophie Yates took a hard drive off her ankle early in the third quarter, left the contest and didn’t return. … Mount Abraham marked off socially distanced areas for fans to watch the contest, rectangles roughly 10 feet by 3 feet separated by smaller boxes painted with an X. … The Eagles had a pumpkin carved with their school logo resting on a chair behind their bench. … The Wasps graduate six: Lili Sorrentino, Natasha Springer, Sadie Gravelle, Cassandra Summarsell, Calder and McCullough.
Greg Fennell can be reached at gfennell@vnews.com or 603-727-3226.