WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — The Hartford High boys lacrosse team made its fourth consecutive state semifinal appearance Tuesday. Unfortunately for the Hurricanes, they’re still chasing that elusive first championship.
This time it was third-seeded Harwood that ended the second-seeded Hurricanes’ season with a 10-8 triumph.
Hartford led, 3-1, after a quarter and intermission brought a 4-4 tie. The Highlanders led, 6-4, after three quarters and went up, 8-4, five minutes into the final stanza on Jonathan O’Brien’s over-the-shoulder goal.
Hartford rallied with four goals in slightly more than two minutes to forge an 8-8 tie before a fired-up gathering of several hundred. However, the Hurricanes committed an unforced turnover that led to a Highlanders strike with two minutes remaining and were caught with too many men on the field 15 seconds later, leading to the visitors’ final tally.
“This group’s never given up all season, and I’m proud of the way they came back,” second-year Hartford co-coach Grant Whiteway said. “It was just a little short. The kids played hard.”
Hartford senior Dawson Nalette scored five times, including his team’s last two goals. Classmate Reece Thompson had two goals and two assists. Senior Jacob Derosier scored once, Andrew Knight had two assists and Hunter Hutchinson had an assist.
“We didn’t have a lot of possession time in the first half, but once we did and got into our sets, we were able to generate some good scoring opportunities and finish,” said Whiteway, a former University of Massachusetts player who works in special education at Hartford Middle School. “We turned the ball over a lot today and they won more ground balls. It’s tough to win a game that way, but for our guys to have the heart to come back was impressive.”
Harwood (12-3) is headed to its third consecutive Division II title game. The Highlanders won last year’s championship, finishing 14-0. They are 34-7 during the past three seasons.
Hartford (12-5) lost to U-32 in last year’s Division II semifinals and fell to Stratton Mountain in the 2016 and 2017 Division III finals. The Hurricanes are 13-19 in the postseason since their 1999 debut and are 0-4 in title-game appearances and 4-4 in the semifinals. The program, which was 18-37 from 2012-2015, is 44-20 since.
Notes: Outgoing Hartford athletic trainer Jenny Frechette was honored before the game. The wife of recently-retired Dartmouth head trainer Jeff Frechette, she will stay on in the school system as a teacher. … Watching from her car parked behind the fence on Highland Avenue was Frechette’s former coworker, Luna Ricker, who retired last year after 38 years. … The traffic cones used to block off spaces in the parking lot adjacent to Tuesday’s game were royal blue with sliver reflective stripes and tiny Hurricanes decals on them. … Hartford graduates 10 seniors. Among them, Derosier is headed to Southern New Hampshire University and Nick Porter is off to Rensselaer (N.Y.) Polytechnic Institute. … Former Hanover High goaltender Chris Washington and onetime Hartford player Taylor Thompson served as Hurricanes assistants this spring.
Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com.