Local Roundup: Oxbow Continues Steady Improvement

Bradford, Vt. — Given the success of last year’s state finalists and the number of new bodies filling the roster this year, the Oxbow High girls soccer team was bound to have a different experience this fall.

But that experience is starting to pay off for the Olympians.

Oxbow scored on either side of halftime and required just one save of goalkeeper Kaysea Neil in a 2-0 shutout of Danville on Wednesday. The result gave the O’s (6-7-0) back-to-back wins for just the second time this season and five victories in the team’s last seven starts.

Zoe Barton’s unassisted goal with 12:55 left in the first half, her team-best seventh goal of the year, was all the hosts needed. Freshman Kayla Benoit added her first varsity goal, also unassisted, with 17:00 left in the match for the clincher.

Oxbow hosts Enosburg on Friday to close the regular season.

Windsor 3, Otter Valley 2

Windsor — Annie Soho’s penalty-kick conversion with nine minutes to play opened the floodgates for a three-goals-in-five-minutes burst that gave the Yellowjackets (2-11-0) their first win since their Sept. 3 season opener.

Brooke McKeen’s first goal of the year, with 7:30 to play, put Windsor ahead to stay, and Olivia Rockwood added some cushion with 4:27 to go by polishing off an Anika Abrahamsen assist. OV notched a late goal, but netminder Kaycee Herschel kept out the rest on a 14-save afternoon.

“We actually played well; we had good quality opportunities to put the ball in the net,” said Windsor coach Bruce Mackay, whose Jacks hadn’t scored a goal since a 2-1 loss to Black River on Sept. 23. “When the lid was taken off of the goal with the penalty kick, we opened up and relaxed a bit.”

The Jacks’ only other win this season came against Bellows Falls to open the season. Windsor visits the Terriers on Friday.

Hanover 3, Plymouth 0

Plymouth, n.h. — Facing a foe fighting for a state tournament spot, the Marauders (11-3-1) shook off a physical opening and moved the ball to devastating effect.

Anna Dickson got Hanover going in the 21st minute, converting the first of Sylvie Alexander’s two assists on the afternoon. Pepper Joseph doubled Hanover’s lead 12 minutes later on a Clare Gardner pass. Alexander clinched the win by feeding Carly Craft’s second-half insurance marker.

“I think they were fighting hard,” Hanover coach Doug Kennedy said of Plymouth. “They were very aggressive on offense, but our ball movement was a lot better. They have a nice, wide field, which we like.”

Mahler Meyerrose and Bella Bardales shared the two-save shutout for the Marauders, who host Hollis Brookline on Friday.

Sunapee 4, Epping 0

Sunapee — The Lakers made the most of senior day by scoring twice in each half to essentially clinch the top seed in next week’s NHIAA Division IV state tourney.

Sydney Clark set up Maddie Austin’s goal and converted a Maryann Cousens pass for a 2-0 halftime lead. Hannah Cooney made it 3-0 after the break on a Mary Grzanna assist, and Clark closed the scoring on an Austin pass.

“Bottom line here is the girls are coming to the end of a long season,” Sunapee coach Myles Cooney said in an email. “We need to get excited about the second season and push hard to give our team every opportunity to play well and win.”

Suzanne Rickard made three saves for the shutout. Sunapee visits Wilton-Lyndeborough on Friday.

Thetford 3, Peoples 0

Thetford — The Panthers rewarded their four seniors with a win over the Wolves, the quartet’s first of their varsity careers.

Despite a missed penalty kick, TA (11-2-0) took a one-goal lead into the break on Jordan Mousley’s first goal since Sept. 7, set up by Lily MacVeagh’s through-ball assist. Ellen Veracka scored her third goal in two matches on a Regan Covey assist early in the second half, and Taylor Hollis added a late goal, also on a Covey helper, to set the final margin.

The Panthers head to Montpelier to close the regular season on Saturday.

KUA 4, PEA 4

Meriden — Down 3-0 after just 16 minutes, the Wildcats (7-1-1) rallied for a draw with Phillips Exeter.

Ella Bankert notched her second straight hat trick to key the rally for Kimball Union, which also picked up a goal from sophomore Esa Anderson.

Proctor Academy arrived on Friday night, when KUA plans to hold a remembrance for Janie Cozzi, a member of the soccer program who died in an automobile crash in Vermont on Oct. 8.

Field Hockey Hopkinton 4, Mascoma 3 (ot)

Hopkinton, n.h. — The Royals’ seventh overtime contest of the year proved to be their last when, in an NHIAA Division III tournament opener, Lyndon Flanagan completed a hat trick for the seventh-seeded Hawks (10-5-0) with 4:32 left in the 15-minute extra session.

Tenth-ranked Mascoma (7-7-1) rallied from a 1-0 halftime deficit, riding goals from Katie Pushee, Kayla Hammond and Justine Martin (the latter on a Michaela Dowd pass) in short order for a 3-1 lead. Flanagan and Katie Meserve scored to force overtime, which Flanagan ended when she ended Mascoma’s season.

“There were lots of tears at the end of the game,” admitted Mascoma coach Jenn Hammond, whose team went 4-2-1 in overtimes this season. “They’re a real talented group. It’s not just one kid; it’s the whole entire group. They left it all on the field.”

Martin, Katie Ferland, Haley Bissonnette, Pashents White and Layla Meyveagaci played their final games for the Royals in the loss.

Hartford 2, Rutland 0

Rutland — Talk about fast starts: The Hurricanes (9-3-1) smacked the tin twice in the opening two minutes to beat the Raiders and secure a top-four slot in next week’s Vermont Division I tournament.

Sophomore Emily Ricker’s first varsity goal in the game’s first minute gave Hartford all the lead it would need. Barely 60 seconds later, the Canes doubled the advantage on Brooke Hurd’s seventh goal of the campaign. Freshman Kennedy Mullen assisted on both scores.

Rachel Loseby earned a five-save shutout. Hartford hosts D-III frontrunner Bellows Falls on Friday.

Boys SoccerRutland 1, Hartford 0

White River Junction — The Hurricanes finished the regular season 7-5-2 after surrendering a goal in the second minute.

“They started fast, and we weren’t quite ready,” Hartford coach Kevin Guilbault said. “Our guys settled in and played a pretty good second half, especially when we got a sense of urgency in the last 10 or 15 minutes.”

Jordy Allard made six saves for Hartford, which is expected to host a first-round game next week in the Vermont Division II playoffs.

Epping 1, Sunapee 0

Sunapee — The Blue Devils, ranked second in NHIAA Division IV, handed the Lakers (8-7-0) just their fourth shutout defeat of the season.

Will Palin produced an outstanding effort in goal for Sunapee, according to coach Jack Iacopino, surrendering only a 34th-minute penalty kick to Epping (13-2-1).

The Lakers had their chances to force overtime, none better than when Hank Vincent saw his second-half scoring bid tapped off the crossbar by the Epping goalkeeper. Midfielders Nick Ducharme, Carson Garland, Will Austin and Cade Robinson had solid two-way games for the Lakers.

Sunapee closes its regular season on Friday at Wilton-Lyndeborough.

NMH 1, KUA 0

Meriden — An early corner conversion from Northfield Mount Hermon put an end to Kimball Union’s eight-match unbeaten streak.

KUA had scoring chances in both halves but had no success in breaking through the Hoggers’ back line. The Wildcats (7-1-1) host Tilton on Saturday.

Cross Country Balch an MVL Champ

Bennington, Vt. — Thetford’s Meaggie Balch outran the field on Tuesday to bring home the Marble Valley League girls cross country title at Willow Park.

The junior covered the 2.95-mile course in 20 minutes, 16.2 seconds, to beat Mount Anthony freshman Sarah Umphlett (20:51.7) and Brattleboro sophomore Sarah Gallagher (21:45.2). Sydney Pilot took fifth (22:43.2) for Woodstock’s best result. The Wasps were fifth as a team and Thetford sixth out of the seven teams with scores.

Malcolm Silver-Van Meter (18:00.9) took third among the boys for Thetford, behind Brattleboro’s Isaac Frietas-Eagan (17:10.3) and MAU’s Evan Page (17:43.1). Matthew Bassette (18:59.5) placed eighth for Woodstock. TA took fifth as a team while the Wasps claimed eighth.

Volleyball Newfound 3, Mascoma 0

Bristol, n.h. — The Royals capped a 2-14 season with a straight-sets loss to the Bears by scores of 25-11, 25-3 and 25-16.

Plymouth 3, Hanover 1

Plymouth, n.h. — The Marauders fell to 3-12 with a four-set loss to the Bobcats. Hanover closes the season at Con-Val on Friday, having beaten the Cougars in four earlier this year.

College VolleyballDartmouth 3, Bryant 1

Hanover — The Big Green recorded a 25-17, 22-25, 25-21, 25-19 win over the Bulldogs (13-13) in their final nonconference match of the season.

Sophomore Zoe Leonard led the way with a double-double of 12 digs and 24 assists for Dartmouth (8-10). Senior Emily Astarita posted a team-high nine kills, and freshman Carly Tower hit to a .389 percentage for the Big Green attack.

Dartmouth heads to Harvard in the resumption of Ivy League play on Friday night.

Men’s BasketballDartmouth Picked Sixth

Hanover — The Big Green, heading into its first season with coach David McLaughlin, enters with the expectation of another sixth-place finish in the Ivy League, according to the league’s preseason media poll.

The survey, released on Wednesday, placed Princeton as the narrow favorite over Harvard, with defending league champ Yale third. Penn, Columbia, Dartmouth, Cornell and Brown completed the poll.

The Big Green went 10-18 overall and 3-11 in the league last season in what turned out to be Paul Cormier’s final season as coach. Dartmouth was also picked to finish sixth in the 2015-16 preseason survey.

Dartmouth opens its season on Nov. 11 at Rhode Island.

College Field Hockey Colby-Sawyer 4, Mount Ida 1

New London — Jordan Teixeira and Ali Jones each scored twice as the Chargers improved to 11-4-0, winning their third straight.

Teixeira sandwiched her goals around Jones’ first for a 3-0 halftime lead. Jones built the lead to four early in the second half, and goalies Xena Ras and Hanna Crose split seven saves.

Colby-Sawyer closes the regular season on Saturday at home against Husson.