WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — The unbeaten Hartford HIgh girls lacrosse team got the proverbial monkey off its back and advanced to the VPA Division II Championship game by swatting archrival Woodstock, 15-6, in a state semifinal on Tuesday at the Alumni Athletic Complex.

Coming into the latest matchup with their longtime rival, the Wasps held the upper hand in the playoffs, having beaten Hartford at this same stage the last two seasons.

In Tuesday’s third straight semifinal matchup between the two squads, Hartford trailed by one goal. But the Hurricanes proceeded to go on a rampage, scoring five consecutive goals to seize control of the game, which was never in doubt in the second half.

“We kept saying it’s redemption time, and so I told them mental toughness — not to get in your head — it’s Woodstock, it’s going to be a good game,” said Hurricanes head coach Heather Hartford.

“I looked at them this year, and I just said, ‘It’s your turn. This is another opportunity, don’t waste it, let’s play as a team, let’s play aggressive but clean, and you should be able to take away the win and head to the championship.’ ”

The Hurricanes, who have scored in double digits every game this season, got to work quickly. Off the opening faceoff, senior Madison Barwood gave the Hurricanes an early lead just 13 seconds in.

Shortly thereafter, fellow senior Audrey Rupp extended the lead to 2-0 on a sequence that was triggered by a nice breakout pass from junior goaltender Zoe Zanleoni.

The Wasps surged back against the initial onslaught.

In a span of less than three minutes, the Wasps took a 3-2 lead on goals from senior Olivia Grasso, junior Aleks Cirovic and senior Stella Capurso and ended the first period with a one-goal lead.

Early in the second quarter, Hartford junior Hailey Vanasse scored to tie the game 3-3 with 10:36 remaining in the half. Woodstock answered immediately and took back the lead with another goal off a restart, this time from freshman Betta Cirovic.

Then the Hurricanes’ seniors got rolling. The scoring barrage included a pair of goals from Barwood and three from Rupp. The game stood at a 9-5 Hartford advantage going into halftime.

Both squads traded goals again to begin the third quarter, but with the game at 10-6, the Hurricanes never looked back and drowned the Wasps in goals, which proved to be too much to overcome.

Hartford went on another run, scoring another five straight goals, with two from Barwood and one each from Rupp, Vanasse and senior Paige Trombly.

The offense was not the only thing clicking for the Hurricanes in the second half, as Zanleoni and her defense held the Wasps to one goal after halftime.

Hartford knew her team would have to get through Woodstock to get to its first state championship since 2022, when it won the title over Vergennes/Mt. Abraham.

“I don’t think the score actually represents how good Woodstock is in that sense,” Hartford said. “We just happened to get momentum, got the score up, and we were able to hang on to that spread.”

Hartford (15-0) will meet Green Mountain Valley, a team they did not face in the regular season, in the championship. The game will be played at Norwich University on Saturday at 4 p.m.

The Gumbies come into the game with a record of 12-1, their lone loss coming in Woodstock, 10-9, on May 2. GMV got revenge at home on May 22, when they beat Wasps, 15-4.

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