DANVILLE – Tenth seeded Woodstock edged the Caledonia United girls soccer team in penalty kicks to pull off the upset last week in the first round of the Division III playoffs.
After two scoreless overtimes, Alaythia Lockhart converted the game winning penalty kick to help Woodstock advance with a 2-1 road win over Cal United last Wednesday. Both teams stiffened defensively in the first 40 minutes, sending the match into the break tied 0-0.
Woodstock broke through 15 minutes into the second half when Aubrey Seeman found Ava Rich to give the visitors a 1-0 advantage. Cal United stepped up their energy and answered just five minutes later when Cora Abetti buried a feed from senior Sloane Morse. Both teams would play 40 more minutes of scoreless soccer, sending the outcome of the match to a penalty kick shootout. Morse and fellow senior Taylor Carson converted for Cal United to even the shootout, setting up the heroics for Lockhart’s game-winner.
Ida Astick wrapped up a solid season in what was her first year in net for Cal United, making 11 stops in the loss. Jane Stout was equally as impressive for Woodstock with 11 saves, as the Lady Wasps ended a four-match losing streak. They fell to second seeded Windsor 1-0 in a hard-fought battle over the weekend.
“After Sloane and Taylor converted, the Woodstock keeper made a nice save on Hazel Abetti’s PK. Ida made a nice stop on Woodstock’s first penalty, but didn’t have much of a chance on Lockhart’s game-winner,” said head coach Spencer Morse.
In their inaugural season as a three-school cooperative (Twinfield-Cabot-Danville) last fall, Morse led the program to its first ever Division III playoff win, upsetting Lake Region on the road. Cal United went a step further this season, securing the program’s first home playoff match in the Division III tournament with a 7-6-1 record.
Morse loses a large core of his team to graduation next spring including, Sloane Morse, Ida Astick, Hazel Abetti, Jorja Washburn, Carley Mancini, and Taylor Carson. Morse was a Vermont All-State selection as a junior and has led the offense the last two seasons along with Abetti and Mancini. Washburn and Carson have been tenacious defenders for Cal United and Astick recorded four shutouts this season in her first year as a starting varsity goalkeeper.
The top four teams in Division III advanced to the Final Four with top seeded and undefeated BFA-Fairfax squaring off against fourth seeded Stowe and No. 2 undefeated Windsor hosting a 13-win third-ranked Fair Haven team on Wednesday.
