NORTHFIELD, Vt. — Woodstock High entered Saturday’s Vermont Division II girls lacrosse championship game with a core group of athletes looking to add to field hockey and ice hockey crowns earned earlier in the school year.

For much of the first half against U32, the Wasps looked capable of pulling off the trifecta, leading by a pair of goals 11 minutes before intermission. From there, however, the Raiders took over, notching the next five tallies en route to an 8-4 triumph at Norwich University.

U32 (16-2) prevailed for the 13th consecutive contest, mixing speed and grit to snap Woodstock’s five-game winning streak.

““They fought hard for ground balls and really won a lot more than us,” said Wasps coach Amanda Hull, who guided her fifth-seeded troops to a semifinal upset of top-seeded Hartford. “They’re very fast and had a lot of pressure on our defense, so it took longer for us to clear our end than is typical.

“They work really well together, looking for each other all over the field to make passes.”

Claudia Shoemaker scored twice as Woodstock built a 3-1 lead. The second-seeded Raiders scored twice during the first half’s final two minutes and entered the break up, 5-3.

“Momentum goes up and down during a lacrosse game and I figured ours would be coming back,” Hull said.

Senior goaltender Audrey Emery was a standout for the Wasps, making 12 saves. Hull said her 9-8 team was hampered early in its difficult schedule by oozing home fields, forcing it to practice mostly indoors until late April.

“Our whole campus was soaking wet and we had to find little corners that were dry,” the coach said. “We figured some things out and grew exponentially in just a few weeks.”

Woodstock was 7-6 last season and then graduated nine players while Hull, an elementary school teacher, was out on maternity leave. The Wasps last reached the title game in 2017 and entered the season 21-51 since that time. The 2023 campaign suggests the program is again on the rise.

“These girls have a work ethic and a drive to win that you don’t see every year,” Hull said. “It was really fun to coach girls like that, who were ready for the postseason and ready to put the work in and fight until the bitter end.”

Shoemaker finished with a hat trick and Hannah Gubbins also scored.

Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com.