Two Essex girls hockey players make history in Hornets' 10th championship victory
With time winding down in the third period, Essex senior Taylor Senecal sent a long pass down to the other end of the ice. BFA-St. Albans had pulled its goalie and Hornets sophomore Calleigh Bruyns beat the Comets skaters to the puck.
Bruyns whipped around behind the net and tucked the puck into the goal making history for herself and Senecal on the same play.
Bruyns became just the third D-I girls hockey player to record a hat trick in the championship game while Senecal recorded just the second four-point game in D-I championship game history.
With those history making nights, No. 4 Essex (14-8) cruised to a 5-1 victory over No. 2 BFA-St. Albans (14-6-3) to capture the Hornets' 10th D-I girls hockey championship and first since 2021 during Thursday's finals at Gutterson Fieldhouse.
"I thought we had the makeup to do that (go far in the playoffs)," Hornets coach Jerry Gernander said. "Our big guns played the way that big guns need to play when it matters."
The last time both those feats happened was in the 2015 championship game when Essex's Kathleen Young record a three-goal, one-assist game.
Essex came out onto the rink ready and took the lead 1:32 seconds into the game, capitalizing on a bad pass behind the Comets goal.
Lucille Mehaffey raced over to help after a teammate intercepted a bad pass behind the Comets goal. Mehaffey freed the puck and passed it outwards to Bruyns. With the Comets out of position defensively, Bruyns had a wide open look and knocked the puck through.
Bruyns entered the postseason with just three goals on the year but tallied five times this postseason, including the Hornets first two, to finish her sophomore year with eight. The sophomore player will be someone the Hornets can build around next year.
"Our team and line chemistry has been really good so far and definitely in the postseason we really connected to get my goals," Bruyns said.
By the end of the first period, Essex built a 3-0 lead behind a pair of Bruyns goals and one from leading scorer Senecal.
Senecal wowed the crowd, scoring two coast-to-coast goals showcasing what she will bring to the Colgate women's hockey team next year.
"When I first pick up the puck I take a look ... usually they are sending three on me, so I'm like I gotta go," Senecal said.
🏒 "Great moments are born from great opportunity."
— Jack Main (@JackMainTV) March 14, 2025
Watch @EHSHornetPride's Taylor Senecal score the goal of the year, and then the inspiration behind her team's Cinderella run at a @vpasports D1 girls hockey championship 🏆 #SCTop10pic.twitter.com/OFQGhTQD0N
The senior used her speed to blow past Comet skaters after collecting the puck near her own goal, before going the length of the rink and scoring.
In between Senecal's goals, Gabby Fraties got a solid look on freshman goalie Morgan Hughart early in the second period. Fraties fired a shot into the top right corner of the goal. Other than that goal, Hughart dazzled recording 25 saves and handing BFA its first loss since Jan. 11.
The Comets out-shot the Hornets 26-15, but that did not matter has BFA could not overcome its slow start.
"I thought we had opportunities in the second and third (periods), but we just didn't get it across the goal line tonight," Comets coach Luke Cioffi said.
Essex now leads the playoff series 8-5, including a 5-3 edge in the championship game over the Comets. The Hornets remain one championship away from tying BFA for the most D-I girls hockey championships in the state.
Contact Judith Altneu at jaltneu@gannett.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter: @Judith_Altneu.
This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Vermont H.S. girls hockey: Taylor Senecal, Calleigh Bruyns lead Essex
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