Harwood crushes Hartford in D-II final
June 17, 2026 | By Jamie Biggam | The Times Argus
Harwood Boys Lacrosse and their coaches celebrate their Vermont State Division II Championship, Sunday at the University of Vermont. The Highlanders bested the Hartford Hurricanes 13-7 for their second straight state title. Photo by Sarah Milligan
BURLINGTON — Keeping a good man down is never easy.
The Hartford boys lacrosse team tried its best Sunday, but Harwood’s Milo Lavit single-handedly outscored the Hurricanes and let his defensive teammates do the rest.
The four-year varsity standout finished with a dizzying eight-goal total, helping the top-seeded Highlanders avenge their only loss of the season during a 13-7 victory in the Division II lacrosse championship. Harwood (15-1) claimed its second straight crown and snapped No. 2 Hartford’s 13-game winning streak one month after the Hurricanes put a halt to the Highlanders’ string of 17 straight victories.
“Leading up to this game, I wasn’t really super nervous: just very excited,” Lavit said. “And then I stepped on the field and remembered who we were playing and I got a little nervous. But once I potted that first goal, I was locked in and just kept shooting.”
Harwood also claimed payback from 2024 after losing to Hartford by the same 13-7 score during the finals. The Highlanders competed in the title game for the seventh time in nine seasons and have taken home the hardware four times during that span. And Sunday’s final outcome carried on a tradition of trophy hauls for a select group of Harwood athletes who also helped their team earn a repeat ice hockey championship last winter.
Senior Eli Herrington. Photo by Sarah Milligan
“When we were celebrating I hugged Eli Herrington and I just said, ‘We completed the legacy,’” Lavit said. “Back-to-back hockey state champions and back-to-back with the lacrosse: There’s no better way to go out. It’s the last time we’re going to put on these jerseys. And to leave as a state champion means more than anything to me.”
For the past decade every D-II boys lacrosse final has featured either Harwood or Hartford. And making the Highlanders’ feat extra special was that fact that the Hurricanes had gone a combined 76-6 over the last five years before entering the title clash.
“D-II is tough because you don’t play a lot of real competition until you play Hartford,” Lavit said. “So I think we put them on pedestal the first time we played them and thought they were better than they are. And this time around we played Harwood lacrosse and played how we know how to play – and played with confidence as well.”
Sophomore Charlie Lamonia tucked away three goals and Harwood teammates Braedon Bellows and Felix Kretz also scored. Lamonia, Lavit and Brycen Scharf tallied assist in the winning effort.
According to coach Lamonia, a night-and-day difference in the level of preparedness by his squad resulted in a completely different situation Sunday than how the three-goal loss played out four weeks ago.
“The goal was to hold them to seven (goals), so they accomplished our goal 100%,” coach Lamonia said. “I think we were just better prepared, period. We knew that defensively we had to have our best game. And we did that, so we executed defensively what we needed to defend. Hartford’s attackmen are awesome and really, really good players and scary around the crease. And so we knew that we had to really watch their weapons around the crease.”
Isaac Tane (three goals) and Owen McMahon (two goals) were the top scorers for Hartford. Rex Baning (one goal, one assist) was another offensive weapon in the losing effort and teammate Owen Mock added one goal.
“We don’t have football (at Harwood), so these guys tend to be more physical than us,” coach Lamonia said. “And there were aspects of the game where they clearly were more physical than us. But we knew that going into this game, so we definitely practiced our intensity level – and we brought it. We knew we had to play four quarters of our best lacrosse. And these guys did it. But we knew that it was not going to be easy, so we couldn’t let up in any quarter and we just took one quarter at a time. And (the Hurricanes) are a great team and they’re the best team we’ve played all year.”
Senior goalie Graham Thompson made 12 saves for the Hurricanes, while Harwood sophomore netminder Liam Cleveland turned away nine shots.
“At the beginning of the season (Cleveland) was a pretty quiet and pretty reserved guy,” Harwood defender Eli Herrington said. “And going from Evan (Andrews) — who was very vocal, to Liam — it took him a little bit. But just to see how much he’s grown since the first few games is really amazing. He played so good tonight and he really shocked me. He was being loud and just getting all the boys going, so he’s got a bright future ahead of him.”
Heading into the final Cleveland knew that the Hurricanes prided themselves on defensive stinginess after limiting opponents to an average of 2.8 goals per game.
“(Thompson) is a great goalie,” Cleveland said. “But I know I’ve got to stay in my mind and know that I’m a great goalie as well and just play my game and flow.”
Harwood held a 17-14 edge on groundball wins and both teams won 12 face-offs. Harwood outshot Hartford 23-17 and relied on some tone-setting stops by Cleveland in the opening half to continually frustrate the Hurricanes.
This year Cleveland took over starting goalie duties for Andrews, who made over 400 career saves for the Highlander. And despite Cleveland’s limited varsity experience, he was unfazed by the pressure of a championship atmosphere and happily stole the show during some make-or-break moments.
“I wasn’t surprised at all because I’ve been coaching Liam for a handful of years and he’s always been a great goalie,” coach Lamonia said. “But look who was there last year: It was (Andrews). And Liam stepped into the biggest shoes you possibly could ever give someone. And they fit him perfectly.”
Thompson reminded everyone at Virtue Field that he’s one of the bravest netminders in the state 80 seconds into the game by using crafty stickwork while racing out from the crease and cradling the ball all the way past the center line – beating several Highlanders in the process.
Lavit opened the scoring midway through the first quarter on an unassisted effort. Cleveland went low to deny a shot toward the right corner 40 seconds later and then a long-range snipe by Lamonia doubled the lead 72 seconds later. Harwood went a man down late in the first period due to interference and personal conduct infractions, but moments after play resumed Lavit scored on a Lamonia assist for a 3-0 cushion.
Hartford’s scoring woes finally ended when McMahon broke up the shutout bid with 9:52 left in the second quarter. Baning notched an assist on his team’s opening goal and then scored himself with 7:35 on the clock. And just over a minute later Tane maintained possession in traffic while driving toward the right post and then tied things up by rifling a shot into the back of the net.
Harwood fans in the stands. Photo by Sarah Milligan
Harwood didn’t wait long before offering a response, with Lavit pushing his team ahead for good with 5:42 left in the first quarter. A Lamonia goal with 4:49 on the clock kept Harwood flying high and then the sophomore sensation capitalized on a Scharf assist, extending the lead to 6-3 with 2:25 on the clock.
Another Tane goal kept things close with 1:23 remaining in the half, but once again the momentum switched quickly. Lavit was cutting toward the right side before he stopped in his tracks, reversed direction for a split second and ripped a backhanded shot into the lower portion of the goal for a 7-4 lead with 46 seconds on the clock.
“I’ve been playing Graham since my freshman year and I know that he likes to cheat low, so that low-to-high (shot) really worked for me well,” Lavit said. “And then once he caught on to that, it was just low-to-low. I was trying to change plans on him, because he’s a great goalie. And I was just lucky enough to pot eight.”
Both goalies made some highlight-reel saves late in the first quarter, with Thompson squatting low and batting away a shot by Bridger Lillard. Cleveland dropped to his knees and denied a late scoring attempt by the Hurricanes, allowing the Highlanders to head into halftime with a three-goal lead.
“I just see ball, save ball – it’s a classic saying,” Cleveland said. “And I just do my stretches, get in the goal and just get in my mind and be ready for anything. ...And shout-out to all my defensive squad. We’ve got Andy (Achilles) and Kyle (Leighty) and Adler (Nedich) — and then the big starters Sawyer (Pekarski), Levi (Colon) and Eli (Herrington). They’re just huge pieces in the program and I’m super excited to have a lot of those guys back next year.”
Lavit kept firing away 51 seconds into the third quarter and ignited another round of cheers from Harwood’s packed fan section by getting the best of Thompson once again.
“Something got into Milo this game and it was a great performance from him,” Cleveland said.
The predictability of Harwood’s 1-2 scoring punch of Lavit and Lamonia finally ended when Lavit assisted Bellows for a 9-4 lead with 9:46 left in the third quarter. The Hurricanes countered with a McMahon goal outside the left post with 8:22 on the clock, slicing the gap to 9-5.
With Thompson a few steps away from the goal, Lavit stole the ball and sprinted 12 yards toward the target as the Hartford netminder regained his positioning. Lavit didn’t slow down a bit before reaching the top of the crease and then opted for a high shot that made it a 10-5 contest.
A minute later Thompson blocked a bounce shot and dodged a bullet when the ball ricocheted off the top of the crossbar. But the Hurricanes weren’t so lucky with 2:31 on the clock when Felix Kretz made a half-field run and found a slight crack in the Hurricanes’ defensive shell.
Another Lavit goal 59 seconds into the fourth quarter gave Harwood the luxury of passing the ball around more than usual while protecting a seven-goal advantage. Tane scored the final goal with 2:58 remaining, but at that point the countdown to Harwood’s victory parade couldn’t be stopped.
“It’s crazy,” Herrington said. “We did it last year going back-to-back with hockey and lacrosse. And to be able to do it again, it’s really something special. From the first practice with these guys, we knew that this was going to be what we were striving for. And coming into today we said that we were going to play our game – and we did.”
Junior Bridger Lillard. Photo by Sarah Milligan
Championship tradition
Following the game, the team headed home and their bus was met by two Waterbury Fire Department fire trucks for an escort through Waterbury. Rain didn’t deter several dozen fans who lined Main Street to cheer on the team bus as it passed by.
Photos below by Gordon Miller (click to enlarge). Video by Lisa Scagliotti
