WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — The Hartford High boys lacrosse team is heading to its fourth straight VPA Division II championship game — with a chance to win a third consecutive title — after a dominant 15-3 semifinal victory over Mount Anthony on Tuesday at the Alumni Athletic Complex.

As was the case during the teams’ regular-season contest in May, Hartford controlled the game from start to finish.

“The kids are bought in,” Hartford head coach Grant Whiteway said. “We’ve got great senior leadership, great junior leadership, and it trickles down. The kids care. They want to play well, and they’re so bought into what we’re trying to do as a group — offensively, defensively and on special teams.”

Junior Thomas Thorburn opened the scoring for the Hurricanes. Minutes later, sophomore Owen McMahon added a goal — assisted by Thorburn and set up by a fast break from senior Cavan Benjamin-Potwin and junior goalie Graham Thompson.

Midway through the first quarter, the Hurricanes appeared poised to pull away early, but Mount Anthony freshman goalie Asher West made several strong saves to keep the Patriots in the game temporarily.

Still, Hartford extended its lead before the end of the first quarter with a goal from sophomore Rex Baning to make it 3-0 entering the second. Mount Anthony responded with early pressure in the second quarter, which led to senior Colin Brady scoring the Patriots’ first goal.

With the score 3-1 and Mount Anthony showing the ability to maintain possession and challenge Hartford’s defense, it looked like the game could tighten.

Instead, the Hurricanes responded with a 12-0 run spanning from the middle of the second quarter until about 7:30 remained in the game.

McMahon scored four goals during the run. Senior Logan Caffrey tallied three, senior Austin St. Peter added two and Benjamin-Potwin, Thorburn and senior Nicholas Daniels each scored once.

Third-seeded Hartford overwhelmed Mount Anthony in every phase, from defense to midfield control.

“We focused a ton in practice on how to match up with certain guys and play team defense,” Whiteway said. “And like I said, the kids are bought in.”

The Patriots scored twice late, but the goals had little impact on the outcome.

With the win, the 15-2 Hurricanes will meet top-seeded Harwood Union (11-1) in Saturday’s championship game at Norwich University. Game time is 7 p.m. It’s a rematch of last year’s title game, which Hartford won, and of a May regular-season contest in which Harwood handed the Hurricanes their first loss of the season.

“We just have to go out and do what we’re good at — play team lacrosse,” Whiteway said. “It’s going to be a game. Those guys are good, and we’ve seen them before. It’s always a great game. So we’ll get ready over the next few days, clean some things up, and it should be fun.”

Michael Coughlin Jr. can be reached at mcoughlin@vnews.com.