Last season, the underdog tenth-seeded South Burlington girls soccer team topped three-seed Rice in the Division I semi-finals. One year later, it was the Rice team that was the underdog and the 10-seed looking to knock off the three seed.
The roles were reversed for the two teams, but the outcome remained the same. Mollie Gribbin scored two goals, leading South Burlington to a 3-0 victory over Rice Wednesday in a Division I semi-final.
“We are a little bit calmer than last year when our games were in overtime and we didn’t know if we were going to make it,” said Gribbin. “It’s a little freaky how the seeds worked out from this year to last year. They were an underdog and we knew what we had to do today to just win. Our midfield did a great job of seeing the game and getting the ball over.”
| 1 | 2 | Final | |
| Rice | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| South Burlington | 2 | 1 | 3 |
South Burlington (14-3) sophomore Shannon Flaherty scored the opening goal of the game in the fourteenth minute, and also had an assist on Gribbin’s second half goal. Allie Flaherty assisted on Gribbin’s first goal 3:45 before halftime, giving the Rebels a 2-0 cushion at the break.
The Rebels are aiming for back-to-back girls soccer titles after winning their first ever last season. In three games this postseason, South Burlington is outscoring opponents 14-2.
“We are proving we belong in the finals—there was some doubt about that last year,” said Gribbin. “We’ve made a statement so far and hope to again against CVU Saturday.”
Rice finishes their season with a 9-7 record. The Green Knights lost in the semi-finals for the third straight year.
Sophie Barrett stopped five shots for South Burlington. Alayna Hauke made eight saves for Rice.
South Burlington defends their title Saturday against top-seeded CVU at Burlington High School.
