Stowe Youth Hockey, January 17

Stowe’s high-flying offense was in full effect with multiple goal-scoring from Reece King, Ryan Hughes, Gunnar Mink and Daniel Donza. Tristan Gagne, Jodi Semler, Owen Ruane and Vincent Romano impressed with great passing and a pair of goals each. Stewart Lemnah, Jack Boes and Reilly Lewton also tallied goals for Stowe to round out the offensive attack.

On defense, Conner Mayo, Curtis Donza, Madison Shaw and Dean Roy worked hard keeping the puck away from the net while setting up the offensive rush for Stowe.

• Stowe completed a strong weekend hosting Barre’s U8 and Harwood’s U6 team at Stowe Arena Sunday morning.

The U6 team had Declan Driscoll showing his skills in net. The scoring came in bunches with Marit Teubert, Olivia Challenger, Lawson Hoehn, Alexander Dill and Livia Mink all netting at least one goal. The passing is what really made this a special game with Jay Wyckoff, Finley Perpall, Cooper Melrose, Ellery Hughes and Tucker Boes moving the puck well throughout the game.

• The U8 team was aggressive against Barre from the first drop of the puck. Team 1 had another strong performance in goal from Landon Kneale, and Daniel Donza, Ryan Hughes, Reece King, Reilly Lewton and Gunnar Mink all had multiple goals scored, with some great passing between Reece King and Daniel Donza. Stewart Lemnah jammed one home and Braxton Orr flicked in a nice one set up by Ryan Hughes. Jack Boes assisted on a pair of goals and had a great defensive game.

Team 2 had Spencer Hughes tending net again, sticking away many shots and making a great glove save in the first half. The team was led by two goals from Jodi Semler, with Vincent Romano netting one on a sweet backhander. Tristan Gagne and Conner Mayo had strong offensive games and each added a goal, with many shots fired. The defense was led by Madison Shaw, Dean Roy and Curtis Donza.

— Michael Hughes

Under-10 travel team

A recent win over Harwood highlighted the improvements in team offense made by Stowe Youth Hockey’s 9- and 10-year-old travel team. The Raiders were propelled to victory by six goals from five different players in a decisive 6-0 win in Waterbury.

An exciting first period featured many perimeter shots by veteran defenseman Ian Nolan, who was a force on both ends of the ice throughout the game. Under intense pressure, Harwood’s goalie held firm and covered all rebounds.

Finally, three minutes into the second, Stowe’s “Grind Line” of Felix Fortmann, Bethany Nelson and Michael McNight was able to break through and score. This was the first tally of the season for Fortmann, and an over-the-top celebration was immediately held to mark the end of a long goal drought.

Not to be outdone, the lightning-fast line of Ashton Dill, Charles Isselhardt and Jaxson Ruane struck just 90 seconds later.

Dill had an excellent game, scoring twice and creating many chances with accurate cross-slot passes. This line would continue to dominate in the third period, and Ruane would end the game with a goal and two assists.

On a newly formed line, veteran defenseman Max Santenello moved up to center with Scanlan Forrest and Jack Peterson on the wings. Peterson, normally between the pipes for Stowe, showed his skills out of the crease with gutsy slot play and a smooth assist in the third period to Santenello, who faked a pass before calmly wristing the puck to the top corner.

An undermanned defensive corps was calm and collected despite logging intense minutes. Travis Roy was solid on the point and Ryder Donati added to the scoring on an assist from winger Bethany Nelson, her second of the game.

Stowe’s experienced defenders kept the pressure off goalie Cam Bradley, but a breakaway in the third forced Bradley to make a big save to preserve the shutout.

Stowe’s next matchup will include the return of the top-scoring line of Max King, Noah Brown and Ben Clapp against divisional opponent Rutland at 11:15 a.m. on Saturday.

— Steve Fortmann

Squirts

The Stowe Under-10 Squirt team ended 2018 with a couple of away games.

• Harwood’s Tier 3 U10 team was playing its last game in that league, as it is moving up to Tier 2. Harwood scored early and often, despite lots of forward pressure from Ashton Dill and Charlie Isselhardt, and intensive back-checking from Noah Brown, all trying to protect brave goalie Jack Peterson.

The score was 7-0 for Harwood at the end of the first period. Defensemen Ian Nolan and Ryder Donati worked hard to keep the bigger and stronger Harwood offensive line back, and center Felix Fortmann provided defensive support as well. This helped, with Harwood scoring only three goals in the second period, and one goal in the third.

Stowe started to reverse the tide somewhat at that point, and center Bethany Nelson got to shoot on her former Harwood teammates. Cameron Bradley switched to defense to add his assistance, and Scanlon Forrest had a couple of nice scoring chances. Michael McKnight helped clear the puck and defuse the Harwood pressure.

Max King finally put one in for Stowe. Final score: 11-1.

• The next day Stowe U10 faced CSB, which also scored early in the game. Defenseman Max Santanello responded by shooting multiple times from the blue line, eventually driving one past the goalie. Ben Clapp then skated the puck up for a pass to Max King, which resulted in a goal.

Travis Roy played offense, a new position for him, and was instrumental in keeping the puck in the offensive zone. Ryder Donati backchecked hard to halt a CSB breakaway, then passed the puck to Noah Brown, who sent it sailing up the ice for a score. Jaxson Ruane lofted a few at the CSB net but they were blocked. However, Ashton Dill sealed the deal for Stowe with a goal in the last 30 seconds. Final score: 6-3 for Stowe.

— Clea James