Woodstock girls’ hockey wins state championships, again

Staff report

Woodstock Union High School girls’ hockey won the Division II State Championship at UVM’s Gutterson Fieldhouse in Burlington on March 9, 2023. It was their second championship win in a row and the first time a Vermont D-II girls hockey team has defended a championship win since Montpelier’s U-32 did it back in 2010 and 2011.

Woodstock beat the Kingdom Blades (a program combining Lyndon Institute, North Country Union High School, and St. Johnsbury Academy), 4-1, but throughout most of the game the Wasps led by just a single goal.

Wasps Head Coach Ian Coates has been leading the team for 10 years. Prior to his arrival the team hadn’t made the D-II playoffs for three years and hadn’t reached the quarterfinals since 2009. Over the past five years, his teams have made it to three final games, winning two of them, stacking up impressive wins along the way with a record of 21-1 last season and 19-4 record this year. The Wasps are now the ones to beat.

However, the team will lose co-captains Isabel Konijnenberg and Lily Gubbins who are seniors. Coates will be looking to replace that leadership next season.