8 Rutland Herald Fall Sports Guide Friday , October 6 , 2017
Mill River Boys Soccer 0 Tyler Regula 2 John Verdon 3 Cameron Smith 4 Aren Patton 5 Aidan Botti 6 Tyler Karpinski 7 Austin Corey 8 Ryan Worcester 9 Caleb Flanders 10 John Upton 11 Zack Ames 12 Luke Zelis 13 Ryan Flanders 14 Bryce Duncan 15 Jonah Boyea 16 John Matthews 17 Devin Poczobut 18 Eoin Mason 21 Jude Seo 22 Dan Graves 24 Devin Patch 25 Dana Seward 26 Simon Smith
Coach Shane Little Assistant Coach Chuck Hall
Otter Valley Boys Soccer 1 Clay Hays 3 Reilly Shannon 4 Collin Elliott 5 Sawyer Pierpont 7 Samuel Scholar 8 Ethan Sulik-Doty 9 Lane Eddy 10 Maxwell Williams 11 Joshua Letourneau 12 Patrick McKeighan 13 Cody Willis 14 William Mattsson 16 Cole Letourneau 17 Sawyer McCullough 20 Justin Tremblay 21 Nathan Claessens 28 Bradley Danforth
Coach Richard Williams Assistant Coach Benjamin Black and
Roger Miro
“ These guys have been playing together since first grade ,” Link said . “ Even just playing a small side during the first day you could tell that they had good connections . They moved really well with each other .”
FAIR HAVEN
The Slaters finished 0-14 last season but Craig Bennett and his players are committed to turning things around when the bell rings Sept . 9 at Proctor ’ s Taranovich Field , where they will meet Otter Valley in the Jimmy T . Showcase .
“ We have a more experienced team this year ,” Bennett said . “ We have a lot of returning players and they have been working hard .”
Returning players include Parker Morse , who was a stopper / sweeper last year , and Austin Beayon , who will be up front .
Alex Blackwood is an outside midfielder . Michael Thayer will be in the stoppermidfield area and Jacob Hotchberg is up front .
Returning seniors are Dominique Thorn , Nick Jones and Jacob Frederick .
MILL RIVER
There is some tweaking going on with the personnel and alignment at the North Clarendon school as Shane Little looks to get the Minutemen over the . 500 mark after going 6-6-2 .
Bryce Duncan is the leading returning scorer but he will be moved back to midfield .
That does not mean he is finished as a scorer . Little is looking for him to make runs and either score or set up others to score .
Simon Smith is the second-leading returning scorer and he will be up on the line and providing much of the offensive punch again .
The other major switch has Tyler Regula taking over as goalie after starting in the defensive backfield last season .
Regula is a talented keeper who could have started in the net last year had the
Minutemen not had that position in the capable hands of Austin MacMurray , who has graduated .
“ Tyler is a big solid kid . He was a field player so he has good foot skills . He also has good hands from being a basketball player ,” Little said .
John Upton is back to help control the middle of the field . Zach Ames provides more skill up the middle .
“ In the midfield and up front it will be a mix of many different players ,” Little said .
“ Bryce is a player I can play anywhere on the field . He and Upton will be on the field the whole game .”
A big part of this season is that Little has had his first a year with the group . He was able to do things with them over the winter and summer , putting the Minutemen well ahead of where they were at this time last year . It is very much his team now whereas last year he came to the job very late .
The numbers are decent . The Minutemen boast 23 players , not enough in the program for a JV squad but sufficient numbers to conduct a scrimmage in practice .
Only four of the 23 are seniors so the future looks bright .
“ We have a handful of yearround soccer players which is good ,” assistant coach Chuck Hall said .
The opener is Sept . 7 against Otter Valley .
The Minutemen will also meet Proctor at Taranovich Field in the Jimmy T . Showcase . That will be a special game for Hall who used to be an assistant in Proctor .
A new opponent is Vergennes .
MSJ
Everything is brand spanking new at MSJ . The program is back for the first time since 2011 but coach Tim Gallipo has some expectations as the team prepares for an 11-game schedule , beginning with the short trip over to Taranovich Field to face the Proctor Phantoms on Sept . 6 .
“ I think we are going to be pretty competitive and have a decent season ,” Gallipo said . “ If we can do that people are going to say ‘ why not MSJ ?’ and we can build the program up .” Sam Farrow will be in goal . “ He hasn ’ t played goalie before but he ’ s a natural at it ,” Gallipo said . Keaton Wright-Chapman has transferred from West Rutland . “ He is very strong in the middle ,” Gallipo said . “ He has a great shot .” Freshman Joey Giancola is dynamite in a small package .
“ He is normally a striker but I have him playing left fullback ,” Gallipo said . “ I say that he is my Little Big Man . He is a really good defender and he can turn it up field . When he does that he can attack .”
Delshon Norwood will be playing midfield or striker .
“ I want him to be able to play both ,” Gallipo said .
Ezra Robichaud and Logan Starling , pieces of the state championship team