HARDWICK – Winooski showed off its championship pedigree last week, upsetting the seventh seeded Hazen Union boys soccer team in the first round of the Division III playoffs.
photo by Dorothy Hill
Stephan Stephano provided all of the offense for the Spartans last Tuesday as Winooski pulled away from Hazen late on the road to advance with a 3-1 win. Hussein Mohamed led Stephano with a perfect through ball at 25 minutes left in the first half to catch Wildcat keeper Grayson McNaughten by surprise to make it 1-0 visitors. Feroj Magar chipped a perfect ball into the penalty box four minutes later that Stephano collected and blasted into the back of the net to go up 2-0. Seville Murphy assisted Morgan Michaud a minute later, beating Spartans keeper Omar Turnage near post to close the gap to 2-1 heading into the break.
“We showed a lot of heart fighting back but ultimately couldn’t overcome the two goals given away in the first half. A great individual effort by Morgan gave us a lot of hope, but Winooski’s defense proved too stubborn despite a 55-minute onslaught trying to find the equalizer,” said head coach Harry Besett.
courtesy photo
With numbers pushed forward for Hazen late in the match, Stephano raced past the Wildcat defense, completing the hat-trick to put the game away with three minutes left in regulation. Turnage finished the match with 15 saves for Winooski. McNaughten finished his stellar career with eight stops, developing into one of the top keepers in the Capital League since coming over from Craftsbury Academy as a sophomore. Besett transformed the Wildcats into a tough one in the Capital in just his second season at the helm, posting the program’s first winning regular season (7-6-1) in six years. He’ll have a lot of holes to fill next season with the graduation losses of McNaughten, Michaud, Murphy, Sully Laflam, Justin Montgomery, Ethan Gann and Ari Jurkiewicz.
“It feels too early for the season to be over, but ultimately we need to reflect that we met our preseason goals of earning a home playoff match, redefining Hazen boys soccer in the Capital League. The seniors should be especially proud of their performances today and their play all season long,” said Besett.
Winooski wasn’t your typical No. 10 seed who entered the playoffs with just five wins on the season. The defending Division IV champs ventured outside of their division throughout the regular season, earning wins against Division I BFA-St. Albans and Division II Middlebury. They continued to play their best soccer of the season on Friday, knocking off second seeded Stowe to advance to the Division III Final Four. They travel to sixth seeded Thetford Academy on Wednesday.
