SOUTH ROYALTON — After each game, the White River Valley girls soccer team gathers in a circle, anxiously awaiting the passing of the goat.
Not a literal animal, of course, but rather a small figurine found in assistant coach Omar Calhum-Flowers’s home. The Wildcat who had been named MVP for the previous game chooses the next MVP, then hands her the figurine to keep until the following game.
“We were looking for something to do after the game to recognize players who made an impact,” WRV head coach Kim Prestridge said. “He had this little goat figurine, so we took the ‘greatest of all time’ theme.
“We’re trying to make it fun and encouraging so that they’re out there and want to come back. It gives the kids some investment, too. They want to be (MVP), so there’s some expectation on the field that they’re going to play well and be part of it.”
The Wildcats have certainly been playing well this fall, sitting at 10-2-1 with one regular-season game remaining. After hovering around the .500 mark in Prestridge’s first three seasons, WRV has put it all together in 2022 and is in contention for a top-four seed in the upcoming VPA Division III playoffs. They’ve outscored opponents, 55-7.
Senior forward Jillian Barry has paced the offense, recording at least one goal or assist in every game but one. Once opposing defenses start marking her with multiple players, Barry has shown the ability to be a distributor as well as a scorer, setting up the likes of seniors Shannon Hadlock and Ella Perreault.
“It gets hard when defenders mark me, there’s somebody glued on my hip,” Barry said. “But there are definitely breakdowns in the other teams’ defense when somebody has marked me.”
The Wildcats may be led by Barry and their other three seniors — including Prestridge’s daughter, starting goalkeeper Ellie Prestridge — but they added 12 freshman this year to make an overall roster of 25. WRV started the year with a 1-0 road win against a Windsor team that has lost just twice since, thanks to a goal by freshman midfielder Mackenzie Vesper and strong play in the midfield.
After a 2-1 loss in the home opener to Leland & Gray, the Wildcats won their next four by a combined 28-0. That stretch included a hat trick by Barry in WRV’s homecoming match with Rivendell and back-to-back multi-goal performances from Perreault.
“The chemistry is so good,” Perreault said. “In the past, we’ll start out strong and as the season gets longer, some girls kind of get tired of it. But we’re all so committed and want to win playoff games.”
It all starts with Prestridge, who grew up in Tennessee and played college soccer for the Division II program at what was then known as Lambuth University. She helped out her high school team while in college and coached recreational soccer in the Memphis area before moving to Bethel in 2013.
Following a club coaching stint with Ellie’s Randolph-based Central Vermont FC, Prestridge took over the WRV program when her daughter entered high school, just one year after the merger of South Royalton, Whitchester and Chelsea.
“The consistency is the difference,” Prestridge said. “(The seniors) have been here since I started here. When I came in and we talked about what we wanted the team to be and how we wanted it to feel, it’s been a nice ride to see that wave get bigger and bigger.”
The biggest hole on the Wildcats’ checklist? A postseason victory. WRV has been eliminated in the first round each year since the merger, including a home loss last year to Thetford.
But with a strong blend of experience and youth, the Wildcats appear poised to end that frustration next week and potentially make a deep run.
“This is a team where if they bring it on any given day, they’re a contender,” Prestridge said. “This is probably our best team in terms of a state championship (hopeful) since I’ve been here. My expectation is we’ll be playing for two more weeks.”
Benjamin Rosenberg can be reached at brosenberg@vnews.com or 603-727-3302.