CVU represents well at Twin State classic pitting Vermont against New Hampshire

Playing in front of a picturesque summer backdrop in Spartan Stadium at Castleton State College, Vermont and New Hampshire split the annual Twin State Lion’s Cup. The Vermont girls, led by CVU coach Stan Williams and a trio of his all-star players from 2014, demolished New Hampshire 4-1, while the boy’s squad lost a hard fought game 1-0 to the New Hampshire team, despite the best efforts of a trio of CVU alumni.

“It was a great group to coach. Anytime you have 23 girls who can play all over the field with the skills and work rate that they have, it is a pretty easy team to coach,” said coach Stan Williams from CVU. “I felt that we put a lot of pressure on them in the first half, and after ten minutes in, the offense began to click.”

Coach Williams relied heavily on his CVU players who represented the school on this all-star team. Paige Dubrul and Mackenzie Buckman from Shelburne and Eleanore Blake from Charlotte all played heavy minutes, as did Riley Mitiguy, who is from Shelburne, but played for Rice Memorial High School. Center midfielder Dubrul was a key contributor the entire match, helping to instigate the offense from the ground in the first half, and helping the defense out by repeatedly clearing dangerous balls with her head in the second half. After the game Dubrul said, “In the first half we found our groove, which allowed us to control the game through the midfield.

Buckman was a consistent force at left back, constantly putting pressure on the New Hampshire wingers, and Blake was indefatigable at right back. In brutally humid weather, Blake was able to consistently give Vermont an advantage by controlling the right side from touchline to touchline. After the game she said, “It was really hot out there and it was hard to constantly be making the overlapping runs, so it really took good passing and an ability to get passes to connect to one another on the ground, to keep our energy up.”

Mitiguy was also a key contributor, helping the Vermont offense apply pressure throughout the entire 90 minutes. She assisted on the first goal and consistently pushed the ball up the wing into the final third.

The boys’ game was much more physical, but ended up producing far less quality scoring chances than the girls’ game. New Hampshire scored an early goal on a beautiful header, but from then on in there were very few shots on net, especially from the Vermont side, and it was all Vermont could do to keep the deficit to one.

A huge part of that effort was former CVU star center back, and future Vermont Catamount, Patrick McCue, from Williston. McCue was the best player on the field, and stayed in the game for the entire 90 minutes. After the game, he was rewarded with the MVP award for the Vermont Team. “It (the MVP award) felt great,” McCue said. “It didn’t end the way we wanted to, but that was definitely a high note.”

Also representing CVU on the field were Max Brown from Williston and Richard Baccei from Shelbure. Baccei played attacking left wing, while Brown primarily did the same thing on the other side. Both players had solid games, but the passing did not click for the Vermont boys’ squad the way it did for the girls. Baccei and Brown were often left standing on the outside of the field, waiting for balls that never arrived.

After the game, both players acknowledged that it was hard to gel as a team after only a few practices. Brown said that “we only started gelling at the end” and Baccei added that “they were quick practices, and it is hard to get the best out of everyone with such quick practices.” However, all three players said the entire event was a great experience, and that they had a great time.

Despite the final score of 1-0 for New Hampshire in the boys’ game, it ended up being a good day for CVU.

Contact Matt Keller at 598-9366 or matt@windridgepublishing.com. You can follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/KellerOnSports.