STOWE – After being battered by a powerhouse Stowe team three days earlier, the Hazen Union boys soccer team’s defense responded in a big way against Division I Spaulding last week, improving to 4-1-1 on the season.
Stowe reminded an upstart Hazen team of their championship dominance over the last two decades on Tuesday, cruising to a 9-0 home win behind a hat-trick from Graeme Jostrand. Ben Sherman, Luca Rovetto, Nick Mazur, David McLaughlin, Hugo Vanovac and Cooper Marshall all found the back of the net for a balanced Raiders scoring attack. Declan Coggins added a pair of assists in the win and Caku Brown and Tomas Hynes combined to make four stops to secure the shutout. Stowe lost to Green Mountain in penalty kicks last fall in the Division III state title match after claiming their eleventh state championship over a seventeen-year span in 2023.
A second half penalty kick by Seville Murphy proved to be the difference between two evenly-matched clubs on Friday as the Wildcats blanked Spaulding at home 1-0. Murphy was pushed from behind inside the box by a Crimson Tide defender midway through the second half, and smashed the game-winner just under the crossbar. Grayson McNaughten and Chayse Newell combined to make eight saves to secure the fourth shutout of the season for the Wildcat defense. Trent Loftus turned away eight shots for Spaulding, who fell to 1-5 on the season.
“It was an open, competitive, physical match against a young and athletic Spaulding team. All of our players played well all match. I felt like we were the dominant team through the first half and leading up to Seville’s penalty kick after the break. Spaulding’s keeper did a great job in the first half keeping out multiple breakaways that our offense created, but perseverance paid off for us,” said head coach Harry Besett.
In his second year rebuilding the Wildcat program, Besett’s young team has already matched their win total from last fall. After a tough stretch through Capital League perennial powers last season, his team played its best ball last October, nearly pulling the upset over No. 4 Caledonia United in the Division III playoffs. His team has carried that momentum into 2025 with a stingy defense and an impressive early season win over North Country.
“We took a big step forward in our long-term goal of securing a home playoff game after our second win of the season over a Division I program. We have to keep working to improve with two more competitive matchups in front of us against Lake Region and Lamoille this week,” said Besett.
Hazen traveled to Lake Region on Monday and will host Lamoille on Thursday at Hudson Fields. They’re scheduled to welcome a tough Thetford Academy team to town next Tuesday. All games can be streamed live on Hardwick Community Television (hctv.us).
