CONCORD — Upper Valley girls soccer drew a pair of significant honors from the United Soccer Coaches recently, with Lebanon High goalkeeper Sally Rainey earning all-New England mention and Stevens High coach Tom Belaire receiving New Hampshire small-school coach of the year recognition.
Rainey, a junior and a regular all-state selection during her Lebanon career, kept the Raiders competitive last season despite a 3-9-4 record. Lebanon surrendered just 20 goals during those 16 contests, only once giving up more than two, to support an offense than managed just 16 goals on the campaign. Rainey, who has committed to play for the University of New Hampshire in 2021, had four shutouts — two of them scoreless draws — and was one of the USC’s five regional all-stars from the Granite State. She also had an assist, a punt that led to Lebanon’s only goal in a 2-1 loss to John Stark on Oct. 22.
Belaire has enjoyed consistent success with the Cardinals since taking over the program in 2012. Stevens has made the NHIAA tournament in all eight of his seasons, reaching the finals in 2018, the program’s first championship game visit in nearly two decades. Belaire, who owns an 80-49-11 record at Stevens, guided the Cards to a 14-3-1 mark last season, reaching the NHIAA D-III semifinals.
Honors for Hanover’s Charlie Adams (all-American), Lebanon’s Logan Falzarano (all-New England) and Hanover coach Rob Grabill (New England coach of the year) were revealed earlier this month.
LEBANON — Alvirne’s Tarek Rothe and St. Johnsbury’s Rich Alercio will guide their respective state teams at next summer’s Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl football game at Castleton University.
Rothe will coach the New Hampshire squad for the first time. Born in Mexico City, Rothe moved to Massachusetts as a youth and played football at Dracut High and UMass Lowell. He’s coached at Alvirne since 2001, and he’s been the Broncos’ head coach the last three years. Alvirne made the NHIAA Division II playoffs last season, eventually falling in the state semifinals.
Alercio has guided St. Johnsbury to four VPA Division I titles during his time at the school, including an undefeated championship season in 2017. He joined the Academy after a long tenure in small-college football, and his Hilltopper teams built a reputation as passing-oriented, high-scoring teams.
The 67th Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl will be played on Aug. 1 at Castleton’s Dave Wolk Stadium.
HANOVER — Dartmouth senior defensive back Isiah Swann was named to The Associated Press’ FCS All-American second team on Tuesday.
Swann capped a record-break last month with Dartmouth’s latest Ivy League title. He intercepted four passes, returning two for touchdowns, and finished his career with a program-record 17 picks.
The honor came a day after Hero Sports included Swann on its All-American third team.
ORFORD — With most their starting five in foul trouble, the Raptors (2-0) slowed the game down with a zone defense and made enough plays to get past the Panthers (0-2).
Thetford made use of Rivendell’s foul-prone ways to stay within four baskets at halftime, 36-28, thanks to an 8-for-8 effort at the line. With the slower pace, the Raptors’ Kyle Carter freed himself to hit four 3-pointers for a game-high 29 points, getting help from Zach Gould (17 points) and Luke Senn (11) to put the game away.
“We had to play in foul trouble for most of the game, and we did a tremendous job of doing so,” Rivendell coach Ross Convertino said. “We executed well on offense and had our opportunities.”
Rivendell hosts Blue Mountain on Saturday. The Panthers, who picked up 16 points from Jackson Ransom and 13 from Eli Dunnet, heads to Windsor on Friday night.
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — The Solons held the Hurricanes (0-2) check in a nonleague contest. Hartford visits Lake Region on Friday night.
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Scores that missed Tuesday’s paper due to deadline. Find updates online at www.vnews.com.
POULTNEY, Vt. — The Eagles dropped to 0-2 despite 10 points from Hunter Cooper.
Senior Cade Paquette added eight for Mid Vermont Christian, which visits Craftsbury on Friday.