WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — Hartford High sophomore Joseph Barwood set a boys lacrosse program record for goals in a single season on Friday as the Hurricanes defeated Mount Anthony Union, 7-2, in the VPA Division II quarterfinals.
“The kids played unselfish, and we moved the ball,” Hurricanes head coach Grant Whiteway said. “(MAU) zoned it up a little bit, and our guys adjusted and moved the ball. Played a little bit more aggressively in the second half, which was good to see.”
In game two of Friday’s doubleheader, Hartford’s girls lacrosse team dismantled Lamoille, 17-1, to advance to Wednesday’s D-II semifinals.
The Hartford boys (12-4) took the lead within the first minute of the game as Barwood scored the first of his four goals. His second goal, near the end of the first quarter, was his 51st of the season, which set the record.
Barwood knew he was close to the mark coming into the game but downplayed its significance afterward.
“All I thought about was winning,” Barwood said. “This record, even though it’s a personal record, I couldn’t have done it without the rest of the team. It’s a record to share with the team, not really for me.”
Hartford led 4-1 at halftime, all courtesy of Barwood. The Hurricanes held a 5-2 lead after three quarters.
Junior Aidan Boonyaharn scored two second-half goals and added one assist. Senior Carter Nalette and freshman Ezra Mock each contributed one assist. In goal, junior Tarin Prior saved five shots.
Hartford will hit the road Tuesday to take on top-seeded Rice in the semifinals.
“You don’t get to play high school sports again. This is it. So I tell them not to take it for granted, and they don’t,” Whiteway said. “They love coming out and playing. They love practicing. And they work hard. So we’re excited to be back in the semis. It’ll be fun.”
The Hurricane girls set the tone early in their contest, taking the lead less than a minute into the game, and scoring four goals in the first four minutes. They continued to pile it on in the first half, at one point scoring three goals in a 21-second span.
“I think they came out ready,” Hurricanes head coach Heather Hartford said. “They’re a team that has a great chemistry on and off the field. They’ve set this goal. And as we’ve talked about, it’s one game at a time. And they came out ready to play. And the chemistry was there, and they worked hard, and I’m just really proud.”
Hartford led, 10-0, at halftime, and the officials switched to a running clock for the second half. Lamoille scored its lone goal with about 4:40 to play to avoid a shutout.
Freshman Addie Cadwell scored a team-high five goals and added one assist to lead the team in points. Senior Zoe Pfeiffer, junior Sophie Howe and junior Caroline Hamilton tied for the team lead in assists with three each.
Pfeiffer and Hamilton both scored two goals as well.
Senior Jasmine Jenkins scored four goals and assisted one more. Freshman Elliot Rupp chipped in two goals and one assist. Senior Reilly Slusser finished with one goal and one assist. Off the bench, junior Chloe Jensen scored one goal, and senior Abigail Gross picked up an assist.
In goal, senior Bailey Cameron made two saves, and junior Sarah Howe later made two stops in relief.
Coach Hartford was happy she could get her bench players some game action later in the contest.
“We had a few plays we wanted to perfect and play, and they did them well,” Hartford said. “I’m super proud of their press; I think that’s one of our strengths is our press. So they just did a great job, they worked well as a team.”
The Hurricanes will host No. 4 seed St. Johnsbury in the semifinals on Wednesday.
Seth Tow can be contacted at stow@vnews.com.