HANOVER — As another boys soccer season in the Upper Valley commences, teams are dealing with arrivals of new players and coaches and departures of last year’s seniors.
But no team is facing as momentous a change as Hanover High School’s Bears, who welcome a new coach, Lucas Richardson, to replace the decorated 19-year veteran Rob Grabill.
Richardson, who played soccer at Dartmouth College, coached as an assistant at his alma mater and headed the Kimball Union Academy girls squad last season. Grabill, who will coach the Sunapee Middle High School girls team, led Hanover to seven state titles.
“[I’m] very grateful to Rob and the program he built. It’s a really cool program to step into; there’s a really strong culture in the group already, and a community for the team, and I feel proud to represent it,” Richardson said.
He also acknowledged that there is some pressure stepping into a program that has had the success that Hanover has, but said he had good senior leadership, adding, “The energy in the group is really good.”
Sam Bagatell, a senior center back and captain, was happy with how the team has adjusted to their new coach.
“We’re really happy with what coach Grabill did for us, but we have to move forward, and we’re doing exactly what we’re doing for a reason, and it’s been great,” Bagatell said. “Coach (Richardson) has been going about it the right way… we just have a group of resilient kids who love playing soccer.”
On Monday, the Bears had their first opportunity to play a game with their new coach, albeit a scrimmage, against the Lebanon High Raiders, and claimed a 4-2 victory.
“I was really proud of the guys,” Richardson said after Monday’s scrimmage, noting their resilience to come back after falling behind early.
Last season, the Bears finished 14-4-1 but were knocked out of the NHIAA D-I tournament in the semifinals by Bedford.
For Richardson, a successful season hinges on keeping the group’s connection intact.
“They already are connected; it seems to be a group that enjoys each other. Can we maintain that if we run into some trouble? If we lose a game early on, do we start to get frustrated with each other, or can we maintain that connection?” Richardson said.
They also need time to gel with their new coach’s tactics.
“This was our first game together, and it takes a little while to learn a new way of playing from a new coach,” said Richardson. “I’m looking forward to digging into that.”
The Bears open their season on Thursday when they host Nashua North.
On the other end of Monday’s outcome was the Raiders, who went 9-5-4 last season, and lost in the NHIAA D-II semifinals against Campbell, 2-1.
In 2025, the Raiders will be moving forward without their star player, Otto Bourne, who won Gatorade’s New Hampshire boys soccer player of the year and is headed to Colgate University this fall.
Lebanon head coach Rob Johnstone, in his 32nd year, channeled his inner Bill Belichick, saying that to make up for the loss of Bourne, everyone is going to have to do their job.
“I know that’s a cliche. If everybody does their job, we’re going to be a tough out,” said Johnstone. “We make things difficult for the other team defending, and I think we’re really close to making it very difficult with the ball too.”
Even in the loss on Monday, Johnstone said that there were positives to take away.
“I think we had a lot of the ball. I think we had, if not an abundance of pure chances, an abundance of half-chances — I mean, really, really close,” Johnstone said.
The Raiders host Hollis-Brookline on Friday to begin their 2025 campaign.
Elsewhere in the Upper Valley
The Thetford Academy Panthers will have an experienced team in 2025 with nine seniors. Jonathan Bicknell, the Panthers’ third-year head coach, said that the freshman group also is strong.
Thetford finished 8-8 last season and was bounced from the VPA D-III tournament by Peoples Academy.
This season, Bicknell said that a continued focus is on defense. “That’s one thing I believe we’ve done quite well, and I expect to continue that into this year,” he said, adding that he would like to see more attacking and goal scoring this season.
The Panthers open their season on Friday at Randolph.
Stuart Kinsman, entering his second season as Mascoma Valley Regional High’s head coach, said that his team has the talent to compensate for some of the players lost to graduation.
“The good players that stand out, eventually that gap is closed throughout the season, and it’s just the little things that they’re able to do to help the other players rise to the occasion, get better at their positioning, communicate better with each other, and you build that bond slowly,” said Kinsman.
The Royals were 15-1-4 last season and came up just short of an NHIAA D-III title, falling to Hopkinton in the final.
For his team to make that next step and secure a state title, Kinsman said it comes down to him and his coaching.
“The weakest link last year was me. I was the one that could have done better in the entire equation; the kids did everything correct,” Kinsman said. “I could have prepared better, I could have communicated better with the kids, I could have scouted harder, I could have gone to see some of the other games.”
The Royals open their season Friday at Kearsarge.
The Hartford High Hurricanes went 14-3 last season and lost in the semifinals of the VPA D-II tournament to Stratton Mountain, 2-1.
To build on a strong season, the team will have to rely heavily on young players, having lost 10 seniors, eight of them starters, head coach Connor Brooks said.
“We’re very inexperienced at the varsity level, so there’s a lot of players that are getting minutes that didn’t see minutes last year [and] weren’t even on the varsity team last year,” Brooks said, adding even with the inexperience, there is a lot to be excited about.
The young Hurricanes will have to adjust to the speed and physicality of the game, Brooks said.
“A lot of the kids haven’t seen that; they are younger, so that is going to be a challenge, but to counteract that, we’ve got to be able to move the ball quicker… and really play as a unit rather than individuals,” Brooks said.
The Hurricanes begin the regular season at home against Montpelier on Sept. 2.
The Sharon Academy Phoenix is coming off a 4-9-3 season in which they lost in the second round of the VPA D-IV tournament to Winooski.
Head coach Grayson Levy wrote in an email that the team is unified.
“Having brought back the majority of the same team as last year, we were able to easily build on the foundations set last season,” Levy wrote.
An early point of emphasis has been its work off the ball, something Levy wrote the team could have been better at last season.
“We have placed a great deal of effort into that during the preseason and I feel confident that we will show growth in that area,” wrote Levy.
The Phoenix begin regular season play on Friday at West Rutland.
