EAST MONTPELIER – With last season’s efforts behind them, a handful of wins and an early playoff exit, this year’s U32 boys hockey skaters have three lone seniors of Max Scribner, Maddox Heise and Colton Warren They spent their summer playing with a Vermont team. Add to that trio, a group of nine freshmen, coming off a state championship last winter and U32 might surprise the rest of the Division !! league.
Shock might be a better word than surprise as this Raider team knocked off CVU, 5-0 in their first game, December 14. CVU is a perennial Division I power and U32 overpowered them. With Milton, Harwood and Stowe next in line, this younger version of U32 hockey will have a good idea of where they stand very soon.
A 3-0 shutout at Milton, December 21, followed as the team headed into a game against. Harwood, December 23. Harwood is favored to be in the state finals in March. U32 jumped out to an early 1-0 lead but then gave up four unanswered goals as they headed into the final minutes. With nothing to lose, the Raiders pulled their goalie early and scored twice to make it a one-goal game. Harwood hung on.
U32 easily handled rival Stowe 6-1, December 27, at the Middlebury Union tourney, and then defeated Middlebury, 8-0, to win the tournament, December 28.
One of the highlights of the tournament was seeing forward Colton Warren reach the milestone 100 point career mark. He joined line-mate Maddox Heise who hit the century mark last year, at the end of his junior season. These two grew up on the frozen rinks of Curtis Pond and have been setting each other up for goals since they were four years old. Combine those two with the team’s third senior Max Scribner, one of the top defenders in Vermont, and there is a potent trio that can compete against most teams.
Now, mix in nine freshmen from defending state champion youth hockey teams, who will only improve as they adjust to the speed and physicality of varsity hockey. The U32 hockey future looks bright.
Saturday afternoon, January 4, the Raiders earned a 10-1 win over the Colchester Lakers, bringing them to 2-0 in early season league play. Colton Warren deposited four goals in that game, earning him CVTSPORT.net Star of the Game honors.
Some of the best parts of sports often get hidden behind the headlines: Last year, junior forward Maddox Heise reached the rare milestone of 100 career points, with his line-mate Colton Warren, just behind.
With two assists in his first game, Heise reached that goal only to find out after the game his 100th point was charged to a freshman player for his first point. The senior player refused his 100-point banner and gave the point credit to the freshman.
The team travels to Brattleboro, January 8, for a 7:15 p.m. game and is back home against Burlington on Saturday, Jan. 11, at 2:30 p.m.
Paul Fixx is editor of The Hardwick Gazette and lives in Hardwick.
