Late goals power Rice girls soccer past Milton for D-II title repeat

SOUTH BURLINGTON - Tough it out against Metro opponents to start the season. Lock it down defensively after that. Cultivate a balanced scoring attack from multiple sources.

The Rice Memorial High School girls soccer team has stuck to a familiar formula in recent years. It's proven to be a winning one.

Breaking through with two late goals, fifth-seeded Rice dispatched No. 7 Milton for a 2-0 victory in Saturday's Division II title game for the second of back-to-back crowns in the program's sixth straight championship appearance at South Burlington's Munson Field.

After starting 0-4-1, Rice (12-5-1) won 12 of its final 13 games, including eight in a row to close the season, and pitched 10 shutouts. Last year, the South Burlington program also posted 10 clean sheets and roared to the finish line with a 12-game winning streak.

Rinse, wash, title repeat for the Green Knights.

"I’m not going to say it’s not stressful, but we play some of the top teams in the state and we challenge ourselves early in the season. Yeah, we don’t always coming through with a winning record, but it prepares us," said Aubrey Ouellet, Rice's sixth-year coach. "We play at a faster pace than a lot of the other D-II teams throughout the season. At the end of the day, that really makes a difference in the playoffs. We are more prepared and battle-tested than a lot of other teams going into the playoffs."

More:Defense, Riby-Williams' header push Montpelier to D-II boys soccer title

Saturday, Berit Gross curled in a 20-yard shot off the post in the run of play with 13 minutes, 12 seconds left in regulation, and Elizabeth Cunningham cleaned up in front of a wide-open net with under 2 minutes to play to punctuate the sixth title in program history. It was also Rice's first title-game win over Milton following crushing defeats to their league rival in the 2017 and 2018 finals.

"Getting this win means a lot for the program in general," Ouellet said. "It feels good to finally get the victory against Milton in the state championship."

The Yellowjackets (10-7-1) reached their 19th championship game with a starting 11 filled with sophomores and freshmen. Milton coach Shawntel Burke said she had no regrets on the team's performance in Saturday's final.

"We had a lot of fun this season, I’m proud of the girls and I’m really proud of how we evolved as a team, as a program," Burke said. "We’ve got a lot of young talent. I have nothing to be upset about."

On the first goal, Gross created with touches around Milton defenders before unloading a shot that glanced off the right post and rolled back across the goal line and in, evading Milton goalie Lila Martin (eight saves). Reese Billings earned the assist.

"We talked about that during halftime, just taking more shots. They were giving us a little bit more space, especially on this field, than our team was anticipating," Ouellet said. "Berit’s an incredible player, the fact that she took that touch, took that shot and was composed, I’m proud of her."

Gross played Saturday with a broken nose, suffered in Rice's penalty shootout win over Montpelier in the semifinals, the fourth straight year the Green Knights beat the top seed in the D-II tournament.

"It was 0-0 and we were slowly running out of time, so I just tried and luckily it went in," said Gross, a junior. "It's amazing. We’re going to try and go for three years in a row next year."

Milton's best chance at an equalizer came five minutes later on a corner kick. But Rice goalie Sunshine Clark made a smothering, diving spot on the far post on a header from Holley McLellan's service. Clark finished with five saves.

"She has the mentality, she doesn’t want to let the ball in and she hates to lose. That’s what you want in a goalkeeper," Ouellet said.

In front of Clark, center back Claire Vincent and the rest of the back line limited Milton's aggressive style.

"Honestly, our defense is incredible. I trust all four of them," Ouellet said. "There is never a doubt that if another team has an attacking threat, our defense is going to close them down. If someone is stepping to the ball, we always have that second defender behind them and having that depth on defense is a luxury."

After graduating its entire starting midfield and forward line, Rice leaned on its defense throughout the season while gradually figuring out the rest of its lineup. By year's end, at least 10 players scored a goal, according to Ouellet.

"Our midfield really started clicking, as we started getting into our D-II schedule, getting more confidence and creating more opportunities," Ouellet said. "They’ve gained a lot of confidence. They know they can do it and they believe in themselves and I think that makes a big difference."

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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: Rice tops Milton for D-II repeat