CVU boys lacrosse survives Middlebury comeback for championship walkoff in OT

The Champlain Valley Union High School boys lacrosse team saw its state record of nine consecutive Division I titles snapped in last year's defeat to Middlebury in the semifinals.

"The year that we lost really defined us a new team this year," senior Peter Gilliam said. "We are not the team that won nine straight, we are a different team."

Relieved of the pressure to continue that streak, the Redhawks forged a new path this spring, under a new head coach, yet found themselves on familiar ground on the last day of the school year: Kings of boys lacrosse.

Gilliam wouldn't be denied on a wicked solo effort 30 seconds into overtime and No. 1 CVU overcame second-seeded Middlebury's unrelenting second-half comeback bid to snare a 13-12 victory in the D-I championship game at University of Vermont's Virtue Field on Sunday night.

After racing to a 6-0 lead early in second quarter and 9-3 at the break, CVU (17-1) survived to secure its 10th title in 11 seasons and and 13th overall, all coming since 2004.

"I'm just so happy right now," Gilliam said.

The Redhawks also outlasted Woodstock with a walkoff goal in the semifinals and nearly coughed up a 9-1 halftime lead to Middlebury in the teams' first matchup during the regular season.

"It’s something we’ve been talking about all year, just getting complacent when we get up. And we talked about it at halftime, we said, 'Hey when we go out in the third quarter, let’s keep the same intensity,'" said CVU head coach Brian Loughlin, an assistant for the previous regime at the Hinesburg powerhouse. "And you saw what happened, we decided to make it interesting. Kudos to Middlebury, we knew they were going to fight the whole time. They have a ton of talent."

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Toby Draper (six goals) fired in the game-tying tally with 13.6 seconds left in regulation. But in overtime, CVU's Ray Hagios won the faceoff and Loughlin immediately called timeout.

"Thank God that we won that faceoff in overtime and ... and we were able to call a timeout and get the ball to our best player," Loughlin.

Gilliam (three goals, two assists) surveyed Middlebury's defense, bounced off a defender and whipped in the walkoff winner.

"It was all just muscle memory. I saw the defender bounce off me a little bit and the slide guys were turning around to cover their guys … and I saw my opening and I took it," Gilliam said.

Gilliam also tallied the game's opening goal, two minutes into the contest. The strike jolted the Redhawks' lively start that saw them mount a 5-0 lead after the first quarter and six goals clear, 9-3, at the break.

"Energy, it’s all energy. That’s part about what makes our game so great. Usually, the team that plays with the most energy comes out on top," Middlebury coach Matt Rizzo said. "You gotta give (CVU) a ton of credit, they were great the first five minutes of the game. That really set the tone. You can’t spot a team six goals and expect to win.

"The fact that we went to OT says a lot about the fight that we had."

The Middlebury rally began in earnest when CVU was tagged with a locked-in, two-minute penalty with about five minutes left in the third quarter. Trailing 10-4 at the time, the Tigers scored three goals on the man-advantage, two via Draper, and pushed the unanswered run to six straight on Logan McNulty's equalizer at 10:37 of the fourth.

Then CVU junior star Matias Williams (four goals, assist) struck twice, one on a spin move and another after circling the net with 2:56 to play for a 12-10 edge.

"Pete deserves a lot of credit for the OT goal, but those were two massive, clutch goals at the end there," Loughlin said of Williams. "That’s what he’s done all year, he is calm under pressure, he just loves having a good time and he loves playing lacrosse. You can see the joy in the game when he plays it."

Nulty drew Middlebury to within one on a snap finish with 1:40 to play, and Draper tied it up with a last-gasp run and one-hopper in the game's closing seconds.

CVU used the stoppage in play between the fourth quarter and OT to refocus.

"We went into the huddle and just took a deep breath and relaxed and we were like, 'Hey, guys we have to stay mentally tough, we have to stay together through this,'" Gilliam said. "We broke it down on brotherhood and we knew that we were going to stay together as a team and we got each other’s backs."

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Angus Blackwell added two goals and Gavin McNulty and Jackson Gillett (assist) also tallied for Middlebury (14-3). Freshman goalie Levi Neceder collected nine saves.

Jacob Bose (three goals), Alden Endres (goal), Brian Rutherford (goal) and Connor Malaney (goal) also scored while Will Kearney made nine saves. Kearney's determination to play — to remain in the program he switched to goalie and played on JV as a junior in 2023 — was emblematic of CVU's culture of grinding.

"That kid and his resilience and his grit and his ability to let a couple goals in and then bounce back — his journey has been incredible," Loughlin said.

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