The Hartford High girls hockey team won its second consecutive VPA Division II title Sunday with a 2-0 defeat of Middlebury at the University of Vermont’s Gutterson Field House.

The fourth-seeded Hurricanes used goals from Emma Bazin and Madison Barwood and 14 saves by Nella Bowen to knock off the third-seeded Tigers (13-8-2), whom they had tied and lost to during the regular season. The championship was achieved with Hartford using only 13 skaters and Bowen in net.

Hartford took a 1-0 lead midway through the first period. Aubree Vail circled behind the net and sent the puck past the left post and to Bazin on the other side of the low slot. The senior forward, a Bellows Falls High student who has committed to play field hockey at UVM next season, scored her 41st goal of the season.

In the locker room during the second intermission, first-year Hartford coach Jason Gramling noted that a two-goal lead can be difficult to defend, with players sometimes letting down their guard. That being said, “I told them we’d love to take our chances with that kind of lead right now,” Gramling said.

The Hurricanes (11-9-3) doubled their lead eight minutes into the third period. Barwood skated out of the left corner ahead of one defender and around another before lifting a backhand shot inside the left post from the low slot. It was the senior forward’s seventh shot of the game.

Gramling said a shuffling of the forward line combinations before Hartford’s final regular-season game gave it an offensive spark. He pulled energetic wing Zoe Zanleoni back from playing with Barwood and Bazin to instead skating with Flynn Moreno and Sophie Daniels.

“That gave us scoring and toughness on each line,” the coach said.

Gramling praised Bowen, a junior who posted shutouts in two of Hartford’s three postseason games.

“She was unbelievable (Sunday),” the coach said. “She stepped up the whole playoffs, which was humongous for us.”

Hartford opened the season by tying Middlebury, 5-5, then lost to the Tigers, 4-2, on Feb. 19. That setback was the third contest in a five-game winless streak (0-3-2) that closed the Hurricanes’ regular season.

Hartford’s back-to-back accomplishment has provided the 31-year old program’s only two state titles, although with different coaches. Fourth-year coach Kylie Young was fired by athletic director Jeff Moreno fewer than two months after last year’s title, with no public explanation forthcoming.

Gramling, who was a first-year assistant on the 2023-24 team, was promoted to the head job.

“I tried to continue the good rapport with all my players, but at the same time knowing there would be times where you had to put your foot down and be a little more strict,” said Gramling, a 37-year old former youth hockey coach, who has two daughters playing in the lower levels. “I hope the players knew it was for their benefit.”

This winter’s squad overcame the loss of its top three defensemen. Braelyn Park (Kimball Union) and Carsyn Weglarz (Holderness) enrolled in private schools while Morgan Curtis, Young’s daughter, elected not to play this season.

“I think because of the players we lost after last season, the expectations of defending our title weren’t particularly high,” Gramling said. “So we talked about how we just wanted to play our best hockey in the playoffs and give ourselves a chance to do it.”

Tris Wykes can be reached at ctwykes@aol.com.