HARTFORD — Just 35 seconds of overtime was all it took for No. 2-seeded Hartford High to defeat No. 3 Burr & Burton in a girls Division II hockey semifinal at Wendell A. Barwood Arena on Wednesday night.
Senior forward Zoe Zanleoni scored the game-winner after junior defenseman Grace Hayes won the opening faceoff in overtime and set her up to send the Hurricanes back to the state title game.
“I’m a little shocked, because, although yes, I put the puck in the net, it’s definitely a team effort. Everybody touched the puck before I did, and I think that’s one of the best goals out there,” Zanleoni said. “I’m so excited I could give my team another chance at defending the title.”
Hartford had previously faced Burr and Burton on Feb. 28, with the game ending in a 1-1 tie.
“We had to get more shots than we did the last time — they outshot us,” head coach Jason Gramling said. “Let’s get shots. You can’t score if you don’t shoot.”
Neither team scored through the first two periods.
With 8:35 left in the third period, Zanleoni opened the scoring on the power play, with eighth-grade forward Johanna Kissell winning the faceoff and Zanleoni scoring from the right corner to give Hartford a 1-0 lead.
Burr and Burton responded with just under five minutes to play, scoring a power-play goal of their own to tie the game and send it to overtime.
It was a strong defensive performance for Hartford anchored by goalie Aubree Gramling, an eighth-grader, who stopped 26 of 27 shots.
In the championship Sunday at 5 p.m. in Burlington, Hartford will face the winner of Middlebury vs. U-32, which were scheduled to play Wednesday night.
