In double OT, Harwood boys nail back-to-back D-II hockey titles
March 16, 2026 | By Lauren Read | Correspondent
‘W’ for the win: With their state championship medals and trophy, the Harwood Highlanders boys hockey team celebrates their 4-3 victory in double overtime against U-32 on Sunday night at UVM’s Gutterson Fieldhouse. Photo by Gordon Miller
BURLINGTON — Most of the Vermont ice hockey world had Sunday’s Division II state championship clash between No. 1 Harwood and No. 2 U-32 — two of the state’s premier boys programs — circled on their calendars for months.
On a night defined by a raucous crowd, high‑octane energy, and no shortage of on‑ice drama, the teams delivered exactly the kind of hockey spectacle at the University of Vermont’s Gutterson Fieldhouse that everyone had hoped for.
It was the top-seeded Highlanders who came out victorious, scoring on the power play in double overtime to earn the 4-3 victory and capture their second straight D-II state title.
“It’s exciting, nerve-wracking, so emotional. I’m just so proud of the kids,” said Harwood coach Matt Migonis. “There were kids that were saying, ‘Coach, I’m starting to cramp. I’m starting to do this.’ I have a backpack that’s got salts in it, and we did anything we could to try to help them get through. I had faith they would figure it out and they did, which was awesome.”
The tension in the rink started early with a crowd-assisted rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner that got the volume level roaring and the teams fed off the energy.
U-32 capitalized early, with Camden Leno scoring on a 2-on-1 just over five minutes into the first period. Freshman Ethan Nease fed the puck to the sophomore forward to give the Raiders the 1-0 lead.
But, as he has all season, Eli Herrington delivered for the top-seed Highlanders.
Just over three minutes after U-32 took the lead, the senior took a pass from junior Griffin Nelson and walked into the slot and fired a puck past the goalie for a 1-1 tie.
With the building rocking and on-ice tension ratcheting up, the Raiders again took the lead, this time with sophomore Jack Scribner depositing a pass from Leno into the back of the net on another 2-on-1 opportunity.
Migonis reflected on the teams’ two most recent match-ups since last year’s title game. They played twice this season, with U-32 landing the first victory, 7-5; Harwood evened the score later, winning 5-3.
“The first time we played them halfway through the year, they came out and they took it to us,” Migonis said. “When we played them a few weeks ago at the end of the season, we thought we were returning the favor. I knew that they had a good game plan and they did.”
Fans in the stands have a “white-out” game dress theme. Photo by Gordon Miller
In Sunday night’s championship game, U-32 struck again in the second period, with Leno scoring his second of the game to put his team up 3-1 and, seemingly in full control.
But momentum shifted just minutes later, and Herrington was once again in the middle of it, though this time not on the scoresheet. With Harwood on the power play, the forward went into the corner to retrieve a puck and was hit from behind into the boards. U-32 was given a five-minute major on the play (along with the Highlanders earning a roughing penalty for the after-hit scrum that broke out).
Harwood capitalized almost immediately. Herrington — who did not miss a shift after being down on the ice after the hit — fed the puck to Nelson, who blasted it into the back of the net for a 3-2 score.
“We have an older group, we’re going to weather the punch and then we’re going to do our thing,” the coach said. “You have to wait for opportunities like that.”
The drama continued to mount in the third period as the defending champs fought for the tying goal. And it was the high-scoring first line that again came through for the Highlanders.
A confusing sequence on the ice — that may have been helped along by the noise level in Gutterson Fieldhouse — saw the U-32 net empty and Harwood with the puck.
Senior Milo Lavit carried the puck and then found a wide-open Nelson, who fired it into the empty net for a 3-3 tie with just under 10 minutes left in regulation.
“It’s such a privilege to play with Eli and Griffin,” Lavit said. “I’m honored to play on a line with them…I’m just lucky to be on their line really. Yeah, [Griffin] came up huge tonight. Eli playing unselfish, breaking all the records and I’m just lucky to play with them really.”
Almost impossibly, the tension in the rink rose even higher as the Raiders turned up the pressure to try and regain their lead.
All eyes turned to Harwood goaltender Alexander McCabe, a senior who took over the starting role at the beginning of the season. After a quiet first two periods (he made six stops in the first two frames), the netminder was called upon heavily as U-32 was rewarded with back-to-back power plays.
He stood tall, making 10 stops in the third to keep the game tied and the final game of the winter season headed into overtime.
“Obviously, you aren’t thinking too much; you kind of just black out,” McCabe said. “I was just trying to stay big, stay good on my angles…I love this team so much. You only get to put the jersey on one more time as a senior. I figured I’d leave it all out there.”
In the first overtime period, the Highlanders took control of the puck and pushed for the game-winner. But U-32 keeper Grayson Nease took his own turn as a brick wall. The first-year goalie made four saves in the first eight minutes of overtime, a couple of the spectacular variety, to send the game into a second overtime period.
Harwood’s experience took over in the second OT period, as the team continued to push the puck up the ice looking for their moment. Their persistence paid off with a power play nearly midway through the period.
Our thanks to parent Rick Scharf who captured the final moments of the game and the team’s celebration with fans.
“It was a hump to get over because their goalie is great and they’ve got a young team,” Lavit said. “I think they’re going to have a lot of success in the future. But you’re a man up. It’s a good opportunity to score and we knew that.”
The Highlanders moved the puck through the zone before a deflected puck came to Lavit, the third member of Harwood’s dangerous first line, and he fired a shot top shelf past Nease for the win.
“To be honest, I didn’t see it go in,” Lavit said of his game-winner. “I got the puck in the high slot and I just took a shot and I heard the crowd …it’s such a privilege to go out that way my senior season and with an OT winner.
“It’s something you dream about when you’re a kid playing knee hockey and to fulfill that is awesome.”
The drama-filled D-II final capped off a four-game ice hockey state championship slate that certainly saved the most dramatic for last. Just ahead of the Harwood-U-32 match, the D-II girls championship played out on the UVM ice with Hartford defeating U-32 5-1.
It is the fifth D-II title for the Highlanders program, who also beat U-32 in last year’s championship game. If the team wants to make it three in a row next year, they will do without an influential senior group – including Herrington, Lavit and McCabe – who will graduate this year.
“I just keep thinking back four years ago [when] we won four games and how far we’ve come in that short amount of time,” Migonis said. “I’m just so proud of the job they’ve done on the ice, even in the classroom, all the stuff to get to the point that they are.
“We’re going to miss them dearly.”
This post will be updated with more game photos. See a clip of the team bus passing fans on Main Street in Waterbury escorted by the Waterbury Fire Department here.