MANCHESTER — For the first time in more than a decade, Burr and Burton boys soccer is heading to the state championship.
The top-seeded Bulldogs struck midway through the first half of Wednesday’s Division I semifinal at Friendship Field and held that advantage over the closing 60-plus minutes, grinding out a 1-0 victory over No. 4 South Burlington.
BBA defender Finn Hjelt delivered the decisive goal in the 22nd minute of the first half, starting the sequence with a strong throw-in from the right sideline toward the Wolves’ box. A South Burlington defender deflected the ball away, but a hustling Hjelt quickly regained possession. With a sliver of space the BBA junior stepped into a low drive that he tucked inside the far post. Wolves keeper Spencer Higgins dove to his right, but the strike beat him by half a second.
BBA searched for insurance over the next 10 minutes, putting a pair of shots on frame – but Higgins (three saves) denied both opportunities.
From there, the Bulldogs turned to the defensive identity that has defined their season, holding firm to preserve the program’s first finals berth since 2012.
The Wolves poured on the pressure in the final 50 minutes, but the BBA back line stayed connected and compressed, and timely saves from goalkeeper Jackson Kunisch helped secure his ninth clean sheet on the season.
South Burlington senior Parker Daily sent a promising cross off a set piece in the final seconds of the first half, but BBA’s Sean Grey cleared the threat before it could reach the net and the 1-0 score held heading into the break.
The second half belonged almost exclusively to the visitors, aside from a Grey header midway through the period saved by Higgins. Playing from ahead – and managing a mounting list of injuries – BBA spent the bulk of the half absorbing pressure. A BBA player went down nine separate times for injury stoppages, including Hjelt, who exited from the contest late in the first half.
BBA senior co-captain Bodie Smith dropped in the formation for the second half to help shore up the Bulldogs’ defense. One of BBA’s main scoring threats, Smith helped do the less glamorous work necessary to ensure the Bulldogs extended their season.
“We definitely had key players go down pretty early,” Smith said. “I think we had the momentum getting that goal, and then we knew we just had to sit back and grind that one out. We showed a lot of heart that last half, I mean the whole half pretty much — just on our heels, clearing everything out. It was great.”
Fellow BBA co-captain Rhys Jones anchored the defense throughout, cutting off passing lanes and clearing multiple Wolves attempts.
“We just grinded it out defensively, and we were playing defensive as a unit,” Jones said. “The heart and soul of this team really showed through.”
Alex Watson and Alex Kopeck added key clears in the second half as the visitors continued firing.
With 29 minutes remaining, Sam Harm chipped the BBA defense, but Kunisch snagged the ball out of the air before a South Burlington player could get a touch inside the box.
Just two minutes later, the Wolves were mere inches away from finding the equalizer. The visitors were awarded a corner and a well-placed service led to a flicked header that looked destined to even the game at one-all. Kunisch came up with his most important save of the season in the crucial moment, tipping the ball to himself three separate times before finally pushing it over the crossbar.
With three minutes left in the contest, Conor Maxwell registered South Burlington’s final shot of the 2025 season. The senior tested the BBA net, once again looking for a deflection inside the box, but Kunisch caught the ball cleanly and the Bulldogs held on for the victory.
Success isn’t new for the program, which has gone 22-5-1 over the past two previous regular seasons — earning the No. 2 seed last year and No. 3 ranking in Division I in 2023. But until this fall, the Bulldogs hadn;t advanced beyond their playoff opener since 2022, when it lost to the Wolves in the state quarterfinals. Wednesday marked the first time BBA has reached the semifinal round since the program’s last state championship in 2012. This year’s Bulldogs aren’t shying away from that reality.
“We’ve had a lot of great teams, but we haven’t had a team that’s been able to dig-in in the playoffs like this,” Jones said. “So it’s really just a special feeling, and having all of this support here is amazing.”
That support was on full display as the final horn echoed off Mount Equinox and the Bulldogs sprinted toward their student section, celebrating a long-awaited return to the championship stage. “It’s something I’ve dreamed of, going to the state championship,” Smith said. “To have all our friends and family here and be able to run over to them, it’s amazing.”
BBA will face No. 3 Champlain Valley Union in Saturday’s title game, slated for a 7:30 p.m. start at the University of Vermont’s Virtue Field. The Bulldogs bested the Redhawks 3-0 in their lone regular season meeting Oct. 18 in Hinesburg.
