When you talk about towns in southern Vermont with great soccer traditions, the conversation usually begins and ends with Wilmington and Arlington.
Both schools have dominated high school soccer for decades and both have strong soccer cultures, thanks to the efforts of John Werner in Arlington and Buddy Hayford in Wilmington.
Hayford, who passed Werner to become the winningest soccer coach in Vermont history, won seven championships with Wilmington. After the merger of Wilmington and Whitingham's high schools into Twin Valley in 2004, the tradition of state titles continued with three more titles since the merger.
So it was fitting that the two great soccer towns of southern Vermont faced each other in Bellows Falls on Nov. 2 for the Division IV title, with Twin Valley winning its fourth championship with a 4-1 win over Arlington.
To get to the finals, the Wildcats defeated No. 4 Rivendell, 3-1, at Hayford Field on Oct. 29. Colin McHale scored two goals and Casey Sibilia also scored.
While Twin Valley beat Arlington twice during the regular season, neither win was easy. It took penalty kicks to decide a winner in their first meeting in the John Werner Tournament on Sept. 26, and the rematch with the Eagles on Oct. 8 was a close 2-1 win for the Wildcats.
So this game was expected to be close. And it was, at least for the first half. Alberto Lopez, a Spanish exchange student and Arlington's top scorer, got the first goal in the 12th minute.
The Wildcats didn't panic. Instead, it was time for the Lucas Messing show. He scored the next three goals of the game to turn a nail-biter into a rout.
Messing's first goal came off a scramble in front of the Eagles' goal crease in the 18th minute to tie the game. The go-ahead goal came just four minutes into the second half, as Messing followed up on a rebound of a Finn Fisher shot off Arlington goalkeeper Bryce Harrington.
Hayford said there were no adjustments made at halftime. “I just told them to get the ball out wide, and when we did that, we exposed [Arlington's] backs. We put lots of pressure on their defense, and it was only a matter of time before the goals came.”
Once the Wildcats got the lead, they kept up the pressure. Goalkeeper Jack Kehoe and defenders Eric Bolognani, Isaak Park amd Sibilia held the Eagles scoreless in the second half, and Messing finished up his hat trick with his final goal in the 62nd minute.
“Messing was the 'Man of the Match,'” said Hayford. “He was in the right place at the right time with all his goals.”
McHale, the leading scorer for the Wildcats this season, fittingly ended the scoring with a blast that beat Harrington just a minute after Messing's third goal.
If Messing was the star of this game, there was no doubt in Hayford's mind who was the most valuable player this season for the Wildcats.
“The story of the season is that guy,” he said, pointing at Kehoe. When the team found itself without a goalkeeper at the start of the season, Hayford said the senior volunteered to take the job, even though he had never played at the position. Kehoe made 68 saves and finished the season with five shutouts.
“It's an unbelievable story,” said Hayford. “I'm thrilled for all the seniors. To see them go out on top is very satisfying.”
And that's why that championship feeling doesn't get old for Hayford, whose lifetime record now stands at 439-144-25.
Terriers, Colonels reach football final
• They started the Division II football season facing each other and, this Saturday, they will end the season facing each other.
The last two teams standing in Division II are Brattleboro and Bellows Falls, who will play for a state title on Rutland's Alumni Field at 2 p.m.
For undefeated Brattleboro, it is a chance to win their first state title since 1973. For Bellows Falls, it will be their fifth trip to the Division II final since 2012. They've won 11 state championships since 1971.
When these two teams met in the season opener at Hadley Field on Aug. 30, the Colonels rallied from a 19-0 deficit in the first quarter to roll to a 49-26 win over BF.
That was the first sign that this was going to be a special season for the Colonels. They stormed through the rest of their schedule, averaging more than 40 points a game thanks to the dynamic duo of quarterback Tyler Millerick and running back Chris Frost, plus big contributions by receivers Aaron Petrie and Trinly Warren.
It took a bit of time, but a young and mostly inexperienced BF team got it together to end up where they usually do - in the Division II playoffs. Senior quarterback Griffin Waryas and junior running back Jed Lober have provided most of the firepower on offense, while senior tight end Dylan Clark has been a reliable target in the passing game.
The two teams were big winners in their respective semifinals on Nov. 1.
Against No. 2 U-32 at Norwich University, the third-seeded Terriers ground out a 26-14 win. Lober had 125 yards on 26 carries, while Waryas completed 8 of his 11 passes for 83 yards. Clark caught two touchdown passes, while Lober and Waryas each ran for a touchdown.
The top-seeded Colonels rolled to a 41-6 win over No. 4 Fair Haven at Natowich Field. Despite getting flagged for eight penalties for 60 yards in the first half, Brattleboro still managed to take a 21-0 lead at the half.
The Colonels rushed for 304 yards. Frost ran for 183 yards on 20 carries, while Millerick had 110 yards on four carries and two touchdowns. The senior quarterback also had a 6-for-12 night throwing the ball for 87 yards and three TDs.
Henry Thurber caught two passes for touchdowns while Petrie had a touchdown catch. Reed Sargent was 5 for 6 on his point-after kicks.
The defense also had another great night as the starters held Fair Haven scoreless and the reserves only allowed one late touchdown run by Andrew Lanthier, a 51-yard gallop that accounted for almost half of his 118 yards of rushing.
Now, the Colonels are one game away from ending a championship drought that has lasted nearly a half-century.
“It's pretty surreal,” said Colonels coach Chad Pacheco after the game.
Rice tops BF in field hockey final
• The “Drive for Five” ended for Bellows Falls with a 4-0 loss to Rice in the Division I final in Burlington on Nov. 2. However, it should not be forgotten how far this year's team had come in 10 weeks time.
A team that lost 15 players, including 12 seniors, normally doesn't reach the state final in a rebuilding year. But the program that coach Bethany Coursen has built, a program that has won four straight titles, is one that is designed for the long haul.
At 7-7 heading into the tournament, few gave the sixth-seeded Terriers a chance against the northern schools. But BF beat third-seeded South Burlington and second-seeded Champlain Valley to book their date with top-seeded Rice in the finals.
Against CVU in the semifinal on Oct. 30 in Middlebury, sophomore Maya Waryas scored the only goal of the game at the five minute mark, and the BF defense did the rest for a 1-0 win.
Waryas is one of seven sophomores who were the core of this season's team, and will likely be the nucleus of the 2020 and 2021 squads.
Despite having an advantage in shots and penalty corners, CVU could not get anything past BF goalie Jaia Caron, who made 11 saves.
Rice proved to be a tougher nut to crack. The Green Knights dominated from start to finish as the Terriers did not put a shot on goal. Rice kept BF bottled up in its end for nearly the entire game with a relentless offense.
Still, it took until the 19th minute for Rice to cash in on a scoring chance as Amy Hester scored for the Knights off a penalty corner. Kate MacKenzie added another goal two minutes later for a 2-0 lead at the half. Kate Buckley and Hester finished up the scoring late in the second half to give Rice its first Division I field hockey championship.
BF handed off its crown, but you can count on the Terriers being ready to take it back in 2020.
CVU routs Colonels in soccer semis
• Defending champion Champion Valley decisively put an end to Brattleboro title hopes with a 7-1 rout in a Division I semifinal on Oct. 29 in South Burlington.
The top-seeded Redhawks (16-0-1) scored five goals in the first half. It took about 11 minutes of playing time to break down the Colonels' defense, when Jack Sinopoli scored CVU's first goal. James Schmidt and Jonah Roberts soon followed to make it 3-0.
Zinabu McNeice scored the Colonels' only goal in the 30th minute, but the Redhawks responded with two goals by Sam Johnson for a 5-1 halftime lead.
Sinopoli scored about a minute into the second half to add to the Redhawks' momentum. Holden Batchelder scored in the second half for CVU.
Rebel girls fall in semis
• A pair of first-half goals gave the second-seeded Vergennes Commodores a 2-1 win over third-seeded Leland & Gray in a Division III girls' soccer semifinal on Oct. 30.
Emily Rooney scored in the seventh minute and Maya Praamsma added an insurance goal in the 31st minute to give Vergennes all the offense they needed.
Izzy Ameden scored the Rebels' only goal in the 75th minute, assisted by Arin Bates. That goal spoiled Commodores goalkeeper Kate Gosliga's shutout bid; she finished with six saves. The Rebels finished with a 14-3 record.
Senior bowling roundup
• Magic in Motion (32-13) remained in first place at the halfway point of the fall season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League at Brattleboro Bowl.
Us'ns (30-15) moved into second place while Whatevers and Trash-O-Matic (both 28-17) are tied for third. Crash & Burn and Ageless Wonders (both 27-18) are close behind, followed by Stayin' Alive (25-20), The Drifters (22-21), One Pointers (18-27), Delayed Reaction (17-28), and Split Ends (14-31).
Pam Prouty had the women's high handicap game (251) while Shirley Aiken had the high handicap series (665). Robert Rigby had the men's high handicap game (241), while Al Dascomb had the high handicap series (670). The Drifters had the high team handicap game (867), while Magic in Motion had the high handicap series (2,477).
In scratch scoring, Robert Rigby rolled a 241 to once again lead the men with a 606 series, while Warren Corriveau Sr. rolled a 191 as part of his 534 series, and Garry Montgomery had a 195 as part of his 513 series. Fred Bump had a 502 series and Les Wigdor had a 190 game.
Josie Rigby rolled a 202 and 170 to again have the women's top scratch series at 496. Other high scorers included Aiken (188), Debbie Kolpa (185), and Prouty (171).