Stowe sweeps D3 soccer state championships
Boys claim first title since 2019, girls win fourth straight
SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) - The Stowe boys and girls soccer teams cruised to D3 state titles Friday night at South Burlington High School, the Raider boys claiming their first state championship since 2019 while the girls claimed their fourth straight.
In the first game, the Raider girls got a late first half goal from Sarah Hailey to take a 1-0 lead on Windsor into the locker room. But the second half was much easier for Stowe as Ana Ortiz and Izzy Lovell tallied to break it open and Hailey tacked on two more goals to complete the hat trick in the 5-0 decision.
“Feels amazing,” Hailey said after the game. “Ever since we won the first championship my freshman year, I just wanted to keep it going. So we worked really hard, all season every season. We stayed humble and you know it worked out for us.”
“Starting on varsity my freshman year and then being here with my sister and those people and then being a captain junior and senior year, it just...this means the world to us,” Lovell added. “Like no one could have believed that we’ve done it four straight years.”
The Stowe boys hadn’t won a title since their eight-year run of championships from 2012-19, but they made up for it on Friday. The Raiders got a second minute tally from Graeme Jostrand, another from Alastair Barrett, and a third from Hugo Jurcinovic before the break to seize control against Peoples. Brock Roick would maintain the clean sheet as the Raiders won 3-0.
“It feels amazing to bring it back, we needed this,” Jurcinovic said after the game. “This is everything for the program, for Stowe. I’m so proud of the boys, we fought. This is all we’ve worked for, I’m so happy, couldn’t be happier and I’m just so proud of our boys.”
“So great, I’m so happy,” Roick added. “I mean we obviously haven’t won my whole time in high school, but my friends here, I’ve been playing soccer with them since I was literally 5, elementary school, pre school even. And it was just a great experience, I’m so happy.”
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