The Upper Valley will be represented by three players and a coach for the New Hampshire squads at this summer’s Lions Cup games, which matches the best graduated senior soccer players from New Hampshire and Vermont against one another for a good cause.
Nehemiah Billings, who played for the Lebanon boys, will be part of the Lions Cup competition after being named to the team following a tryout game on Nov. 15.
Billings, who moved to the area from Jordan three years ago, played center back for the Raiders and earned First-Team All-State honors this season.
“What an impressive trajectory as a player for Nehemiah,” Lebanon boys soccer Head Coach Rob Johnstone said.
He noted that prior to high school in Lebanon, Billings had not played 11-on-11 soccer, only smaller styles like seven-on-seven.
“To have a guy that is that kind of an athlete develop that rapidly as a player in a good league… is pretty cool,” he said.
Johnstone spoke glowingly about Billings’ toughness, noting that he suffered a ”serious injury” to his hip in the regular season that left him unable to play or train.
Billings attempted to play in Lebanon’s 2-1 first-round win over Bow in the NHIAA Division II playoffs, but was only able to log about 15 minutes.
But after a discussion with a doctor, who said the injury could not worsen, Billings geared up again for his squad’s quarterfinal matchup against Oyster River, which it lost 1-0, and ended up playing 80 minutes after another teammate got hurt.
“It was like Willis Reed for the Knicks,” Johnstone said.
Despite not being able to try out physically for the Lions Cup team, he showed up at the venue, meaning he was eligible to be selected.
Johnstone said the body of work Billings put forward this season, along with what coaches had seen from him, was enough to get the nod.
“He’s got the physical and the mental and the toughness, and that soccer really developed quickly,” Johnstone said.
On the girls roster, Maezie Angles, who was a Second-Team All-State goalkeeper from Lebanon High, made the team.
Lebanon girls’ soccer coach Breck Taber lauded Angles’ play, saying that it spoke for itself. He also commended her leadership qualities.
“She’s kind of that leader, not a captain, but still kind of leads by her play and is very encouraging of her teammates,” Taber said. “During halftime, she’d always have very positive things to say, and also she’s observant from the back, so she was always giving some good advice.”
Angles’ coach also highlighted her selflessness, noting that she gave up some playing time so that another Raiders’ keeper could get some work.
“She understood that we had to get our junior goalie some reps and some playing time, and she was fine with that,” Taber said. “But when it was her turn, she played out of her mind at times.”
“She’s a great kid,” Taber said. “It’s well deserved, and I’m proud of her.”
Joining Angles on the girls squad is midfielder Addison Derosier, the Division III Girls Soccer Player of the Year, and a First-Team All-State selection from the Stevens High Cardinals.
She was also named to the NHSCA Girls State Team, which “recognizes the top 11 players, across all four divisions, as chosen by United Soccer Coaches members,” per a release from the New Hampshire Soccer Coaches Association announcing All-State awards.
Stevens High girls coach Tim St. Pierre offered a broader perspective on Derosier’s accomplishment of making the squad. He noted that Derosier was the only player from Division III to do so.
“I’m excited for her to be able to play with some other great players of her caliber,” he said.
Derosier helped anchor a team that went unbeaten on their way to a state championship.
“She’s extremely technical, she’s incredibly unselfish and very industrious defensively for us,” said St. Pierre.
St. Pierre said that heading into the season, he thought some of the biggest challenges facing his young squad would be leadership and team chemistry. But Derosier stepped up to alleviate those concerns.
“Addison is probably the best leader I have ever coached in 30 years of doing this,” St. Pierre said. “All the stuff she did on the field speaks for itself, but her greatest contribution to us is everything she did in training and as a person and leader.”
St. Pierre, who was named the Division III Girls Soccer Coach of the Year, will also be participating as the head coach of the New Hampshire girls team.
It is St. Pierre’s fourth time coaching in a Lions Cup game but this year will be his first time as a head coach and his first time with the girls’ team.
“I’m looking forward to doing that from a little bit of a different lens, but it’s always fun when you get to be a part of something like this,” he said.
New Hampshire’s portion of the money raised from the matches, scheduled for July 18 at Hanover High, will go toward the Lions Sight and Hearing Foundation.
Vermont’s rosters have not yet been finalized and will be announced in the coming weeks.