Kim Prestridge oversaw a marked improvement this fall with the White River Valley girls soccer team, leading the Wildcats to an 11-3-2 record, a No. 4 seed in the VPA Division III playoffs and the first postseason win in program history. WRV scored 60 goals and allowed just nine.
That performance earned Prestridge, in her fourth year as the Wildcats’ head coach, the Coach of the Year award for the Divisions III and IV girls from the Vermont Soccer Coaches Association.
“This is huge. I have been thinking about all the people who have contributed to my success,” Prestridge said. “It feels like a big community award.
“I know my name is on it, but I can’t help but think about the people who watch my son when I’m coaching or are taking him places so that I can do all this.”
Three of Prestridge’s players also received VSCA All-State honors. Senior forward Jillian Barry, far and away WRV’s leading scorer, earned a spot on the list, as did junior midfielder Amara Calhum-Flowers and senior defender Shannon Hadlock.
Freshman Natalee Spear was the lone honoree for Oxbow, which fell to the Wildcats in the first round of the playoffs. Sophomore Audrey Rupp, who scored 17 goals and added 10 assists in 16 games, represented Windsor. For Woodstock, which defeated WRV to reach the semifinals, seniors Isabel Konijnenberg and Dillon Moss were honored. Konijnenberg led the Wasps with 15 goals.
In Division IV, Rivendell senior Ryleigh Butler and freshman Harper Treandly made the team. Treandly’s 14 goals led the Raptors. Sharon’s lone representative was senior defender Maeve Miller.
On the boys side, Hartford, which won its first 11 games before sputtering down the stretch, had three of its seniors — defender Joey Beggs, forward Nolan McMahon and midfielder Joel Roberts — selected. McMahon, with 15 goals, was the leading scorer for a Hurricanes team that won a first-round playoff game in Division II before falling in the quarterfinals.
Thetford senior forward Jake Gilman, who had 14 goals to lead the Panthers to the Division III quarterfinals, made the team. Woodstock reached the state finals before losing to Peoples, and was represented by junior midfielder Ezra Lockhart and senior forward Declan McCullough. McCullough’s 14 goals, including two in the championship game, led the Wasps.
Rivendell, the top seed in the Division IV tournament and eventual runner-up, had just one honoree in senior midfielder Josiah Welch.
Benjamin Rosenberg can be reached at brosenberg@vnews.com or 603-727-3302.