Last Friday evening, February 19, at the Ice Center in Waterbury, the
Harwood Youth Hockey Bantam team beat Milton to win the Vermont Bantam
A/B state championship.
The team, which is made up of 14- and 15-year-olds from Waterbury and
The Valley, had a good season and were clearly one of the teams to beat
when the state tournament began.
They started off well on Thursday, February 11, with a 7-2 win over
perennial rival Northfield. That win was followed by another win over a
scrappy Stowe team 8-2. As some of the teams began to be eliminated,
the play got harder and Harwood had a closer 3-0 win against St
Albans.
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Their streak continued on Monday night, February 15, when Harwood had a
big win in a very exciting nailbiter of a game that went into the third
overtime period before Harwood scored to win 4-3 over a tough Milton
team.
Moving through the loser's bracket it was Milton that made it into the
final game against Harwood on Friday night. Harwood scored two quick
goals in the first period which took the wind out of Milton. Harwood
never let up, scoring three more unanswered goals in the second period
and two in the third to beat Milton 7-2. Harwood was undefeated for the
tournament and won the state championship.
Coach Jonathan Rutledge said, "This championship was truly a team
effort. We had 10 kids who contributed by scoring at least one of our
29 tournament goals and when I looked over the score sheets I realized
that over the five tournament games every team member either scored a
goal or had an assist. Our defense was also great allowing only nine
goals against with one shutout game. This team has a lot of team speed
and hustle and has come together over the season to really work like
one unit."
Team members are: Erik Bertalan, Waterbury, Sam Boylan, Waitsfield,
Siena Damon, Waterbury, Ty Delphia, Waterbury, Adam Lamson, Waterbury,
Ben Laskaris, Waitsfield, Jake Lokett, Fayston, Willy McGowan,
Waterbury, Katie Martin, Waterbury, Seth Mason, Waterbury, Cooper
Miller, Waterbury, Innes Miller, Waterbury, Brendon Potter, Waterbury,
and Connor Rutledge, Waterbury.
The team is coached by Jonathan Rutledge and Scott Guyette.
