FAIRFAX – The Hazen Union girls soccer team rolled to a pair of road wins over BFA-Fairfax and Winooski last week to improve to 3-1 on the season.
Senior Isabelle Gouin scored three goals and assisted on another to power Hazen to a 4-0 road win over the Lady Bullets last Tuesday. Gouin buried a rebound off a Mya Lumsden shot to give the Lady Cats a 1-0 advantage 25 minutes into the match and made it 2-0 twelve minutes into the second half, finishing a perfect through ball from Ella Renaud. A pair of 2024 Vermont All-State selections hooked up to make it 3-0 Hazen eight minutes later as Taylor Thompson finished a feed from Gouin. A converted penalty kick from Gouin ended the scoring on the day after younger sister Kennidee drew a foul in the box from the Lady Bullet defense. Kelsie Rivard was brilliant in net, recording 25 saves to earn the shutout. Heather Love and Alaina Geremski combined to make 13 stops for Fairfax as they fell to 0-5. Since giving up five goals in a season opening loss to Lake Region, first year head coach Megan Mercier has steadied the ship for her defense with a combination of Rivard and Renaud in net and in the field.
“It really is a match-up situation for us in goal. Both Ella and Kelsie have been phenomenal for us in net and in the field. Kelsie gives us strength and ability to counterattack offensively from the center-mid against more physical teams and Ella’s speed and hustle as a playmaker on the field can really change the pace of the game. I’m liking what I’m seeing from both and as the season progresses, we’ll see how things go down the stretch as we get closer to the playoffs,” said Mercier.
Hazen used a balanced scoring attack on Friday to hand Winooski their first loss of the season, 3-1 on the road. Prisca Niyorukundo gave Winooski a 1-0 lead midway through the first half, finishing off a pinball scrum off multiple Lady Cat defenders in the penalty box. Gouin finally found the equalizer with 24 minutes to play in regulation, capitalizing on a through ball from Rivard for her eighth goal of the season. Thompson made it 2-1 Hazen after rocketing a free kick just outside the eighteen-yard line with just under 10 minutes left to play. Ella Luther added insurance minutes later with her first ever varsity goal, cleaning up a rebound from another Gouin shot. Renaud continued her outstanding play, making 16 stops to secure the win and Moo Thay Htoo turned away 8 shots for Winooski as they fell to 3-1.
The Lady Cats carry momentum into a home match-up with Blue Mountain on Wednesday at Hudson Fields and will get a stiff road test against a 4-0 Vergennes team on Saturday. All home games can be streamed live on Hardwick Community Television (hctv.us).
