6
Rutland Herald Fall Sports Guide 2018
Boys Soccer Continued from Page 4
They played Vergennes recently in
a scrimmage at College of St. Joseph.
The Commodores handled the Phan-
toms pretty easily on the scoreboard,
but Proctor stood up to them for much
of the game.
“I thought it went well,” Wilson said
of the scrimmage.
Parker and French showed signs of
becoming solid keepers in the face of
heavy pressure from Vergennes.
The Phantoms will be trying to get
back to the winning soccer Proctor
fans are accustomed to after enduring
a 3-10-2 campaign.
The College of Saint Joseph cam-
pus will serve as Proctor’s home field
through the month of September.
ROBERT LAYMAN / STAFF PHOTO
RUTLAND
The Raiders graduated three Lions
Cup selections including McKay, who
went on to play at Castleton University.
There is senior leadership and talent
from Jacob Henderson, Andres Agui-
lar, Myles Hogan, Jensen Kelley, Gabe
Knapp and Jamison Evans.
Those players are all very versatile
and will be counted on to play a cou-
ple of positions each. Henderson and
Aguilar will be in the midfield and
up on the line. Hogan is primarily a
defender and Knapp and Evans will
both be in the back and at midfield at
various times.
Aguilar will be counted on for some
of the scoring, but coach Henderson
will be looking for others who can
complement him as goal scorers.
Evans has a monster throw-in that
can serve as a weapon on the offensive
third of the field.
A couple of returning juniors also
bring experience. Joe Lafarge and
Tanner Merrill will be in the back and
at midfield.
“We also have some younger guys
who have been playing well and who
I think will earn a spot on the roster
as well as quality playing time,” coach
Henderson said.
West Rutland’s Liam Beaulieu, left, vies with Fair Haven’s Willem Finnegan
during a boys soccer game in West Rutland.
The main candidates for the goalie
position are junior Eren Cetin and
sophomore Jaden Kelley.
“A key will be to have one of them
stand out and win the job,” Henderson
said. “They are both pretty aggressive
and each has good hands. The key will
be which one can dictate the game and
be a field general.”
Henderson likes the makeup of this
team and its potential.
“These guys are players who are
committed to the game. They played
in the offseason or at least came to
workouts,” he said.
“Getting the cohesiveness is going to
be the biggest thing this year.”
SPRINGFIELD
Springfield has run the gauntlet
when it comes to success. Wins were
numerous during the Paul Kendall re-
gime, including a state championship,
but not many games have gone into
the win column since he left. Prior to
last season, the Cosmos won only three
games in three years. But Devon McCa-
rthy, who played for Kendall, took over
the team last year and a 5-9-1 season
followed, which McCarthy looks at as a
pretty successful campaign. However,
continuing the upswing trend may be
difficult.
“We lost nine seniors,” said McCar-
thy, who squeezes in his soccer obliga-
tions with his human resources duties
at Okemo Mountain. “And we have
seven new kids out of a team of 22, so
we’ve got some work to do.”
McCarthy thought the team’s 3-1-1
start was the beginning of big 2017
season, but something happened and
only two more wins followed.
“It was a mental thing and my first
year coaching,” said McCarthy “I
learned a lot from that experience.”
Despite the loss of nine upperclass-
men, McCarthy likes what he has seen
so far, including playing well against
powerful Lebanon, New Hampshire, in
a scrimmage.
“This may be a new batch of kids,
but I think they are awesome,” McCar-
thy said.
WEST RUTLAND
The Golden Horde could hardly be
stronger at each end. Up front is
senior striker Eric Maxham, who has
90 career goals including 36 last sea-
son. Then, as the last line of defense,
the Horde boasts Kyle Laughlin, who
was the Division IV All-State goal-
keeper.
They are pretty darn good ev-
erywhere else, too. They don’t get
much better than All-State center
back Matt Harte.
Westside went 10-4 during the
regular season and could better that
mark if everything falls into place.
Philip Wedin is a solid midfield play-
er who might be moved up this year.
Harte and Wedin are returning
senior starters and Laughlin, Ryan
Smith and Liam Beaulieu are return-
ing junior starters. Another strong
senior contributor is Mike Barrett.
Sophomores returning as starters
are Tyler Serrani, McAllister Perry
and Tim Blanchard.
Laughlin’s mental makeup is what
makes him so good, coach Scott
Maxham said.
“He is an emotional kid but he
doesn’t get bothered by mistakes,”
coach Maxham said. “If he makes a
mistake, he doesn’t lose any of his
focus.”
Maxham said Laughlin came back
that much stronger this season.
“He has a nice drop ball now and
a strong goal kick,” Maxham said.
“We didn’t want to give him too
much at once. Now we want him to
become a facilitator and help the
transition to offense.”
Maxham points out that, even
though the Golden Horde has re-
turning starters all over the field,
“we’re still young.”
It should make the Horde another
team to contend with in the MVL
and in the Division IV state tourna-
ment.
“I think it’s going to be a fun sea-
son,” Maxham said.
— Correspondent Poody Walsh
contributed to this report.