Boys’ and girls’ golf
Harwood Union High School boys’ and girls’ golf teams played on September 17 at the Country Club of Vermont, where senior Aidan Melville came up big for his team.
Harwood finished the rounds with a score of 170, Melville shot a 38 on the day, followed closely by freshman Jon Honeywell with 39, senior Nate Honeywell with 42 and Liam Guyette with a score of 51.
Other high school teams participating in the match were Stowe, who scored a 172 on the day.
Girls’ golf also teed off with Korrina Cummings shooting 58 on the course and Lexi James a 55.
On Sunday, September 30, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., the Harwood golf team will be hosting their annual youth clinic at the Woodchuck golf course in Waitsfield.
Girls’ field hockey
The Harwood girls’ varsity field hockey team faced off against rivals U-32 on their home field Saturday, September 15, in what would be a tough 4-1 loss.
Head coach Katie Alexander commented that the score did not dictate her team’s play, “We had many offensive opportunities generated by forward Annie Fennelly and she scored our lone goal. We have continued to grow as a team from game to game.”
As the team has three practices before their next match up on September 22, facing off against U-32 again, this time in hopes of a different result, they will work on their efforts of getting the ball up the field and seizing the scoring opportunities.
“We’ll work on finishing at the offensive end during practice this week,” commented Alexander.
Girls’ soccer
Girls’ and boys’ varsity soccer hosted a double header against Thetford Academy on Saturday, September 15, the girls played first at 11 a.m. with a close call loss 2-1.
Thetford scored in the first half of the match, Harwood remained scoreless in the first, trying to recover from the one goal advantage posed against them.
A goal in the second half from Thetford would seal the deal on the game, with a 2-0 lead. Harwood head coach Mike Vasseur knew that a 2-0 lead is the most dangerous in any competitive style of play and pushed his team to get at least one in the back of the Thetford goal.
Freshman star Tanum Nelson, who showed strong promise early in the season was there to try and pick Harwood’s momentum up with 10 minutes left in the second half of the game making it 2-1.
The girls’ team tried to rally back in the minutes until the buzzer, but were unsuccessful in efforts. “We hit the crossbar twice and each post once so we sure came close to scoring a couple more,” said Vasseur, when asked what he took away from the match, “We are creating many chances but just not finishing them. We will work on finishing with confidence.”
The team is a month into their season, when asked how the teams’ energy is going into the later weeks of September, Vasseur commented, “The girls are ready to play more games and see what we can build. I was very happy with the game that the team played and really thought that we had the better chances and much of the play.”
The girls’ team plays again Friday, September 21, home against Peoples Academy at 4:30 p.m.
The girls’ soccer team also wanted to make it known that the Mary Harris Girls Soccer Youth Day will be on Wednesday, October 3, from 4:30 to 5 p.m. at Harwood.
This is a community event for all soccer playing girls K-6th grade from Waterbury and the Mad River Valley both varsity and junior varsity girls will act as coaches for this event. Last year the event had over 125 girls and this year the teams want to break that record. Mary Harris is a Moretown woman who was killed, along with four friends in an October 2016 car crash on I-89.
Boys’ soccer
Harwood boys’ varsity soccer is on a winning streak as they beat Thetford Academy at home 6-0 with their double header with the girls’ team and was victorious again against Lamoille 4-1 on September 17, away.
In the game against Thetford, senior Will Lapointe came up big scoring three goals in the first half. In the second half, the defense remained strong against Thetford while Harwood’s offense put in more work with goals from Duncan Weinman, Hayden Adams and Ely Kalkstein.
Head coach Joe Yalicki commented that Weinmans’ goal stood out during the game as it was from outside the 18-yard line. Haydens’ goal was from a great assist from senior Markus Baird where Hayden cut the ball back in and put it hard to the side of the net. Both goals had coach Yalicki claiming they were “Two beautiful goals.”
When asked how his teams’ energy was at this point in the season, Yalicki commented, “Energy and attitude is good. We have improved each game. On each win we have been happy about it for the day, then moved on and became hungry for the next win. We have a strong team of 22 guys that care about each other. We wouldn't be 4-0 without that.”
In the game against Lamoille, Harwood came out strong once again in the first half, setting the pace for the rest of the game as sophomore Hayden Adams and senior Duncan Weinman netted two before the half.
After the short half-time break they didn’t stop their momentum as seniors Jesse McDougall and Will Lapointe put the icing on the cake making the score 4-1 for the final.
“Charlie Zschau sent in a corner, Will Lapointe got to it first and played it along the goal line, Jesse McDougall followed it in and scored his first varsity goal,” said head coach Joe Yalicki.
After his teams’ last two victories, Yalicki commented that, “Both games we showed ability to get forward and attack while also protecting our goal. The midfield has been playing well off of each other and delivering lethal passes to our wide players. We gave up five shots on goal in the two games, only giving up one goal to a penalty kick.”
Yalicki praised Harwood’s goaltenders Ollie Hammond and Max Hill who Yalicki commented “have both played in goal and done great when called upon.”
In preparation for their next game the Harwood boys’ soccer team will be working on their fitness, as the team has seven practice days until their next match they look to only keep improving.
Varsity boys’ soccer plays again on September 25, away against North Country.
