Sports Report – Dec. 19, 2019

Edd Merritt
CVU bar girls who also hang out on mats, rings and ropes. Photo by Al Frey.
Cross-country skiers find snow in the woods. Photo by Al Frey.

CVU hockey starts on a sour note but comes back
Both men’s and women’s hockey teams stand at one win, one loss as of last Saturday. In their opening game on Wednesday, the CougarHawk women, a combined team with CVU and Mount Mansfield Union, could not find the net in a 10-0 loss to another combined team, Burlington/Colchester.

B/C’s Meghan Lehouillier led the game with the first four goals, and from there on it was all theirs. CVU goalie Grace Ferguson was called upon for 29 saves. The CougarHawks are a young team with half the roster being freshmen. Coach Bushweller was quoted in the Free Press saying that while they are a “much more skilled team this year, they are younger.” Maggie DiMasi, who played professionally, is now Bushweller’s assistant.

Jacob Staton, assisted by Angelos Carroll, scored the lone CVU goal in the men’s 5-1 loss to Stowe on Wednesday at that team’s home arena.

Both CVU teams, however, came back three days later with victories. Behind James Bernicke’s two goals, the Redhawk men downed Colchester 4-2. Aiden Machanic and Austin Igler also added a single goal apiece. Aiden Achillies provided two assists.

The women hit the net seven times in a 7-3 win over U-32. Six CougarHawks scored, led by Kiley McClure’s two goals and single goals from Anna West, Katherine Veronneau, Nicole Wright, Sabrina Brochu and Tess Everett. Grace Ferguson was strong in the net with 20 saves.

Plenty of Redhawk buckets open the regular season
Both CVU basketball teams opened the season on a positive note against Rutland. The women won by 41 points, 66-25. They opened the game with both strong offense and defense, leading 19-1 in the first quarter. Catherine Gilwee had 13 points and four assists. Makenna Boyd followed her with 11 and five plus three steals.

The men had a slightly tougher go after leading by 17 early in the game, only to have Rutland come back to go ahead by a point (51-50) with just three minutes left in the game. The Hawks slipped their offense into overdrive and beat the Raiders by eight, 59-51. Ethan Harvey with 15 points, Kyle DelBianco with 14 and Devin Rogers with eight led the Redhawk scoring.

Fall sports awards touch Redhawks
While St. Albans’ Kam Dunsmore was named an All-American at the national level by the United Soccer Coaches, CVU’s midfielder Jonah Roberts and defender Cullen Swett joined Dunsmore on the All-New England team.