Wild finish denies Hartford boys soccer’s bid for first championship

Hartford goalkeeper Ben Lang reacts after losing a VPA Division II boys soccer semifinal game against Stratton Mountain at Maxfield Sports Complex in White River Junction, Vt., on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. Stratton Mountain won, 2-1. (Valley News - Alex Driehaus)

Hartford goalkeeper Ben Lang reacts after losing a VPA Division II boys soccer semifinal game against Stratton Mountain at Maxfield Sports Complex in White River Junction, Vt., on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. Stratton Mountain won, 2-1. (Valley News - Alex Driehaus) Valley News photographs — Alex Driehaus

Hartford’s Cavan Benjamin (4) fends off Stratton Mountain’s Tomas Holscher (54) and Roarke Greenberg (6) during a VPA Division II boys soccer semifinal game at Maxfield Sports Complex in White River Junction, Vt., on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. Stratton Mountain won, 2-1. (Valley News - Alex Driehaus)

Hartford’s Cavan Benjamin (4) fends off Stratton Mountain’s Tomas Holscher (54) and Roarke Greenberg (6) during a VPA Division II boys soccer semifinal game at Maxfield Sports Complex in White River Junction, Vt., on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. Stratton Mountain won, 2-1. (Valley News - Alex Driehaus)

Hartford midfielder Tighe Hrabchak (6) watches his header sail past the net during a VPA Division II boys soccer semifinal game against Stratton Mountain at Maxfield Sports Complex in White River Junction, Vt., on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. Stratton Mountain won, 2-1. (Valley News - Alex Driehaus)

Hartford midfielder Tighe Hrabchak (6) watches his header sail past the net during a VPA Division II boys soccer semifinal game against Stratton Mountain at Maxfield Sports Complex in White River Junction, Vt., on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. Stratton Mountain won, 2-1. (Valley News - Alex Driehaus) Valley News — Alex Driehaus

Hartford head coach Connor Brooks talks to his team at halftime during a VPA Division II boys soccer semifinal game against Stratton Mountain at Maxfield Sports Complex in White River Junction, Vt., on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. Stratton Mountain won, 2-1. (Valley News - Alex Driehaus)

Hartford head coach Connor Brooks talks to his team at halftime during a VPA Division II boys soccer semifinal game against Stratton Mountain at Maxfield Sports Complex in White River Junction, Vt., on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. Stratton Mountain won, 2-1. (Valley News - Alex Driehaus)

By ALEX CERVANTES

Valley News Staff Writer

Published: 10-30-2024 6:01 PM

WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — As the horde of Stratton Mountain School boys soccer supporters flooded the field at Maxfield Sports Complex following the final buzzer’s sound, several Hartford players jogged toward Ben Lang.

Lang, the Hurricanes’ senior goalkeeper, lay flat on the ground, his hands covering his head. Thirty yards away, Cavan Benjamin and Sam Peckinpaugh engaged in a long embrace. Cavan O’Brien crouched inside the midfield circle.

Hartford’s season, one led by a 10-man senior class angling for the program’s first state championship, ended Tuesday afternoon in the VPA Division II state semifinals in a 2-1 loss to the visiting Bears.

The high school soccer careers of the aforementioned quartet, and their time together with the six other seniors on this latest iteration of Hurricanes, came to an abrupt conclusion following Stratton’s last-minute, game-winning tally.

Their push to become the second team in program history to secure a state title game appearance was yanked away, revived and ultimately evaporated all in the match’s final six minutes.

“Just that I love him,” Hartford coach Connor Brooks said when asked what he told Lang after the game’s roller coaster conclusion. “That he had a great season, to keep his head up. We win as a team and we lose as a team. There’s not a lot I can say in that moment.”

Tuesday’s matinee marked the third meeting between Hartford and Stratton since Oct. 3. The Hurricanes won both regular-season encounters, each by a two-goal margin, to help clinch a league title.

Ahead of the teams’ third matchup, it was impossible for Brooks and the Hurricanes coaching staff to ignore the familiarity between the programs. Brooks knew that the Bears “were going to have everything on the bulletin board.”

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No words needed: Hartford wins again

How hard is it to beat a team three times in the same season? That question has plagued sports prognosticators for decades. In the end, most surmise that in the all-important third meeting between two squads — usually a postseason clash — the so-called edge favors the loser of the previous two games.

It’s a question Hartford wrestled with before kickoff.

“We talked about that a lot the last three days since we won the quarterfinal game, that it was going to be a very big challenge to beat these guys for the third time,” Brooks said. “They were going to have all the ammunition in their chest to come out here and battle us hard.”

The two teams were knotted in a scoreless deadlock for the opening 70 minutes, Hartford hampered by its inability to capitalize on several dangerous set piece opportunities. Brooks said some of the attacking misfortune was due to the delivery into the box, other times the Hurricanes simply couldn’t get a head to the ball.

Then Stratton found the breakthrough in the 74th minute. A looping ball into the center of the box found the head of Bears senior Chas Benyik, who flicked the ball over Lang to nab a 1-0 advantage.

In desperate need of an equalizer, the Hartford press was on. Sophomore forward Owen McMahon drew a corner in the 76th minute, Peckinpaugh sprinting to the corner flag to take yet another set piece. His subsequent delivery was deep, sent toward a crowd of players at the back post. The ball ballooned in the air after three straight headers before being knocked down into the center of the box, finding the feet of O’Brien.

Although O’Brien couldn’t redirect the ball on goal, it took a slight deflection off his swinging right leg and fell right in front of McMahon, who calmly slotted the ball back across the face of goal, past the Stratton defenders shifting toward the near post and nestled into the back of the net after glancing off the post.

The Hurricanes had done it, equalizing in the waning minutes of regulation. Another overtime period for Brooks’ bunch, who had knocked off Green Mountain Valley in overtime only a couple days prior, seemed destined.

Stratton’s Trevor Phaneuf had other ideas.

With 65 seconds remaining in the second half, the Bears won a set piece near midfield. A ball was driven into the center of the box, where seven blue Hartford jerseys outnumbered Stratton’s four white jerseys. Still, Benyik was once again the first one to the ball, flicking on a header that forced Lang to make a diving effort.

Lang saved Benyik’s header this time, but he parried the shot right into the path of Phaneuf, who wasted no time tapping the ball into the back of the net. The Hurricanes’ postseason run, its deepest since 2016, was over in the blink of an eye.

But what a ride it was.

Hartford’s 12 regular-season wins tied the program record for most in a campaign, joining the 1998 and 2013 squads at the dozen-win mark. The Hurricanes captured their third consecutive league championship and secured their sixth appearance in a state title semifinal.

“They’re dedicated, they work hard, they’ve earned everything they got,” Brooks said of his team. “They’ve accomplished quite a lot this year.”

Alex Cervantes can be reached at acervantes@vnews.com or 603-727-7302.