Sports Report – Sept. 19, 2019
Redhawk football makes a comeback, then not
After taking a hard hit from Rutland in its opening season game under new coach, Rahn Fleming, the Redhawks recuperated and came back for a week-two win over Mount Mansfield, 27-18. Charlotte’s Seth Boffa seemed to be the running back of choice as he made up for a fourth-quarter fumble to score the final touchdown for CVU, which assured the victory. Angelos Carroll set up Seth’s run by sneaking under several tacklers, and with a minute left in the game, Seth broke through another several defenders to score. It was his second TD of the game. Ryan Canty was active defensively, particularly in the second half when it counted most. He forced the MMU quarterback to scramble and miss his passes on several occasions.
Unfortunately, the Kingdom was not a friendly environment for game three as St. Jay shut out the Redhawks 49-0, leaving them at 1 win and 2 losses through three weeks in the season. Seth Boffa was again the leading Hawk rusher with 48 yards.
Congratulations go to CVU athletes
The Sept. 10 Burlington Free Press showed nominations for male and female “Athletes of the Week.” One of each came from CVU—Alicia Veronneau for her cross-country running and Jami Lashua for his soccer scoring.
Alicia finished August by winning the Essex Invitational race and began the next month across the lake gaining runner-up glory at the Ed Springstead (Shaker) Invitational and fourth place in the Adirondack Invitational Meet in Queensbury.
Jami scored four goals and an assist in soccer shutouts over Rice and Rutland in the Jay Brady Kickoff Classic held in Essex. As a result, he earned the “Tournament MVP” honor.
The Sept. 14 issue of Free Press confirmed that Alicia’s achievements were worthy of recognition, as she was named the “Woman Athlete of the Week” by voters.
Shaker Invitational Cross-Country results
While Alicia placed second among runners from four schools in the Shaker Invitational in Colonie, New York, six other CVU women runners finished among the top 25 finishers, giving the Hawks the top team score. Alice Larson, Finn Mittelstadt and Jasmine Nails placed 5, 6 and 7. Sadie Holmes and Lila Taylor took 9th and 10th, and Isabel Mittelstadt, 14th.
The men’s team placed third, with Mathew Servin and Parker Soares the top Redhawk finishers—Matt in 10th, Parker in 11th. Skyler Heininger, Gavin Schaaf, Mathew Ireland, Andrew Burley and Ben McAuliffe all finished among the top 25.
Once again across the lake
The past weekend saw CVU cross-country runners in New York again, this time running in the Queensbury Adirondack Invitational Meet. On the women’s ledger, Alicia Veronneau again came across the finish as the first Redhawk. She placed fourth, ahead of 147 others. Alice Larson, Finn Mittelstadt, Jasmine Nails and Sadie Holmes were all among the top 30 runners. Due to their efforts, CVU finished first among the 21 schools in the race.
The men’s team finished sixth among 22 other teams. Matt Servin was the leading CVU runner, finishing 26th with Skyler Heininger, Caleb Nye and Parker Soares in the top 50. Andrew Buley, Matt Ireland and Ben McAuliffe rounded out the Redhawk runners, all finishing among the top 80.
Field hockey makes it tough on opponents
This year’s field hockey team seems to be bringing a new level of play to the sport at CVU. As of this week, the team stands at three wins and two losses, with a shutout over Burr and Burton, a 2-1 win over Mount Mansfield, plus Friday’s 6-0 rout of Burlington, a game in which the Redhawks scored four goals in the first half. Their two losses came at the hands of Rutland and South Burlington, both being 3-2 victories for the opponents. In the B & B win, five different players hit the net, showing that offense is not a single-handed matter. The same occurred against Burlington, with a sixth scorer added to the lot.
Golfers travel around northern Vermont
Yes, it is true; Kwiniaska’s original first six holes are turning into hay, apparently to make way for a housing development. Meanwhile CVU men golfers felt comfortable on the new front nine as they scored 12 shots under Colchester on Sept. 10. Redhawk Finn O’Brien earned medalist honors with a 39, followed three strokes back by Cam Saia and four strokes out of first by the pair of Ayden Forando and Freddy Marshall.
Three days earlier Cedar Knoll was the site, and CVU also found it to its liking, shooting 25 strokes better than St. Jay and 100 strokes over Milton. This time Nate Godbout’s 37 led the field, with Evan Forrest two strokes behind him. Austin Igler at 43 was ahead of any players from the other two schools, and Ayden Forando and Cam Saia were just a stroke behind him.
Then last week the golfers moved to Lang Farm (women) and Newport (men for the North Country Invitational). CVU’s Courtney Vincent was a co-medalist for the nine-hole Lang Farm match, and the men took top honors among 17 schools in the 18-hole Invitational. Nate Godbout was the low-ball hitter for the Hawks, only two strokes behind the medalist from Rice. CVU finished 27 strokes ahead of second-place South Burlington.
Oh—did someone mention soccer?
Well, it has been the start of just another soccer year for both CVU varsity teams that stand undefeated as of last weekend. The men added to their 21-game win streak with three shutouts in their first three games of the new season. They began by bagging Burr & Burton 6-0 and followed up by winning the Jay Brady Tournament sponsored by Essex with a 5-0 win over Rice and a 6-0 defeat of Rutland. Friday the 13th proved not to be bad luck for the Hawk men as they won a close game against Burlington, 1-0 on a goal by Jami Lashua from an assist by Henry Bijur. CVU out shot BHS 9-4.
The women had to dig a bit deeper in a game against Colchester that went into overtime before CVU scored the winner on a tip-in by Edie Wright from Olivia Zubarik. The closeness of the contest is not surprising as CVU defeated the Lakers for the Division I state championship last year, and Colchester looked for revenge. The Hawk women also sank Rutland 11-1 and Mount Anthony 4-0 to stand 3-0. Against Rutland, Avery Sleeper led the way with three goals, with Josie Pecor providing a goal and four assists. In the Mount Anthony game CVU goal scorers were Maggie Gannon, Gillian Magnier, Pecor and Olivia Zubarik. Ella Polli was asked to make only two saves in goal.