CVU girls top MMU to seal most H.S. soccer titles in Vermont history

NORTHFIELD - The Champlain Valley Union High School girls soccer team lost the Division I title game to close out the past two seasons.

Exactly one year after the 2021 defeat, the climb back to the top was rewarded in full. With some history to boot.

Zoe Klein deposited the game's only goal early in the second half and No. 1 Champlain Valley turned back third-seeded Mount Mansfield 1-0 to snare the D-I title at Norwich University's Sabine Field on Sunday afternoon.

Klein found space on the right side of the 18 with a brilliant cutback before uncorking a high shot to the far corner in the 46th minute, just enough offense for the Redhawks (15-0-1) to claim their first title since 2019 in the program's sixth straight championship appearance.

"I knew it was the last 40 minutes and we just needed to win," Klein said. "Last year we didn’t do it and this was our chance."

And the Redhawks' 20th coronation pushed them ahead of the Proctor and CVU boys for most titles of any soccer program in the state.

"This group got their chance and they ran with it. They have worked so hard, on and off the field. It’s a tribute to all 25 of them," said Stan Williams, in his 10th season in charge at his alma mater. "The group has been through so much and there is a lot of pressure put on them. To see them fight through was awesome."

Emma Allaire worked a two-save shutout for CVU, which only conceded eight goals this fall and none over its last five games including a three-game tournament run. Tonie Cardinal posted five stops for the Cougars (11-4-1), who reached their first title game since 2004.

"We had some pressure, but the better team won. They are so good and so deep and so physically strong. They are just a powerful, deep team," MMU coach Peter Albright said. "I thought we did everything we could do to win the game and it just wasn’t our day.

"I’m proud that it was a one-goal game and we had multiple chances to tie it. The kids never gave up on themselves."

Two years ago, a decorated Redhawks senior class fell in its final game, one win short of a perfect four-year stretch. And last fall, a young CVU squad couldn't survive a penalty shootout.

"This group was trying to come back to what happened the last couple of years. That’s part of their narrative," Williams said. "Each group has their own story and that’s part of theirs. It was pretty special."

The road to Norwich, and the program's 13th unbeaten season, began after that second straight title-game loss to South Burlington.

"I’m glad you used the word journey because that path is an idea we stress all the time," Williams said. "Today is a great moment, but it’s the months and years that go into it, especially during the season we are always talking about if you don’t embrace the journey — the climb is what we refer to it — then you are going to miss out. That’s where the memories come from."

Said senior center Noah Munn: "We had to make that our goal from the beginning. If we didn’t set that goal from the beginning, I don’t think this would’ve been the outcome."

In Sunday's final, ripe goal-scoring chances were light in numbers as MMU made a considerable effort to mark CVU striker Chloe Pecor, who set the program single-season goals record in the semifinals. But a tactical move in the second half created the only goal the Redhawks needed. Klein switched from left to right wing in CVU's 4-4-2 formation — a maneuver Williams implemented on several occasions this season — to kick-start an attack.

The strategy worked from the second-half kickoff. The newfound pressure gave way when Anna Morton forced a turnover in MMU's defensive third and touched a pass toward Klein near the right corner of the 18.

Klein's slick cutback opened space inside the box, and the junior lofted a shot over Cardinal's outstretched hand for the break-through tally.

"I usually like her on the left because she can cut in and get that shot off on her right, but she managed to do a pretty good job there," Williams said of Klein. "That was a heck of a shot, she’s a strong-minded kid and I had no doubt she’d be at the top of her game today."

MMU's best chance to level the affair came on a Finley Barker free kick midway through the second half that rattled the crossbar. But CVU's back line, led by Munn and Stella Dooley, stayed true to its season-long approach.

"It look a lot of teamwork and coming together and realizing that we aren’t going to win this by ourselves," Munn said.

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Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter: @aabrami5.

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: VT H.S. girls soccer championship: CVU edges MMU to return to glory