WOODSTOCK, Vt. - A year ago, Woodstock field hockey walked off the field in the state championship game on the wrong end of a double-overtime goal. On Wednesday, the Wasps made sure they would get another shot at it.
Betta Cirovic scored three goals and top-seeded Woodstock rolled past fifth-seeded Stowe 6-0 in the semifinals at home Wednesday afternoon. Ryann Hughes, Grace Perreault and Lindsey St. Cyr each added a goal, and Stowe never found the net.
Coach Leanne Tapley said the win started hours before the opening whistle. “We focused on coming prepared,” Tapley said. “I sent a text at 6:30 this morning with the things the girls needed to bring to the field, and the last thing was a winning attitude.”
Hat tricks have become a habit for Cirovic. She opened the season with three goals against Spaulding, scored four against Brattleboro in September and had three more at Windsor on Oct. 6. Wednesday’s three goals put the Wasps one win from a title.
Woodstock improves to 14-1-1 and has posted back-to-back shutouts in the tournament, following a 4-0 quarterfinal win over Milton on Oct. 23 with Wednesday’s 6-0. The Wasps went unbeaten in league play. Their only loss came on Sept. 18, a 4-3 game at Burr and Burton Academy, the same field where they will play for the title, and their only other blemish was a 1-1 tie at Hartford on Sept. 11. Stowe’s season ends at 6-10.
This group knows exactly what Sunday feels like. Woodstock lost last year’s final 2-1 to Montpelier in the second overtime, with Perreault scoring the Wasps’ only goal and Cirovic playing as a sophomore. After that game, Tapley hoped the heartbreak would drive her young team. “I think getting here once and having that feeling will just make them hungry to come back,” she said that day.
The Wasps are back. Standing in their way is second-seeded Mt. Abraham, which knocked out Montpelier, last year’s champion, in overtime in the other semifinal on Wednesday. Tapley’s message for Sunday is simple. “We need to work together, play as a team and be ready to win,” she said.
Woodstock field hockey plays Mt. Abraham in the state championship game on Sunday, November 1, at 11 a.m. at Burr and Burton Academy in Manchester.
Other relevant play on Wednesday, October 28:
Montpelier 1 at Mt. Abraham 2 (OT) Mt. Abraham, Woodstock’s opponent in the title game, ended the season of defending champion Montpelier in overtime.
That wraps up the day for Woodstock Union High School sports. We’ll see you next time!