RUTLAND CITY — Behind two second half goals, the No. 1 Twin Valley boys soccer team beat No. 2 Caledonia United 2-0 at Rutland High School on Saturday in the Division 4 state championship game, capping an undefeated season for the Wildcats after they lost in the final the last two years.
Junior Brayden Brown opened the scoring for the Wildcats (17-0) a little over 10 minutes into the second half, and fellow junior Niko Gerding had the insurance goal with 13 minutes left in the game to seal the win. Senior Kaelyn Lackey had six saves in net for the Wildcats, who led in shots 15-9. The win secured the 11th state championship for Twin Valley head coach Buddy Hayford, who had reached his Vermont record extending 500th win earlier this year. It’s the first state title for the Wildcats since winning back-to-back Division 4 championships in 2019-2020.
“It’s honestly surreal, it doesn’t feel real, it’s amazing, and I’m just so proud of the guys,” said Brown. “Great season, undefeated, great team effort. And coach Hayford, he’s the greatest of all time … it’s a great feeling.”
The first half started as a bit of a feeling out process, with Caledonia (16-1) having a few chances on long throws into the box that gave the Wildcats some trouble, but ultimately nothing that found the back of the net. But the biggest loss for the Wildcats early on was an ankle injury to senior center back Chris Eckert, who didn’t return the rest of the game. The Wildcats pressed on with less than 10 minutes left in the half, withstanding chances by Caledonia including a shot by senior Sam McLane that was blocked and saved by Lackey.
The Wildcats started to create some of their own chances, as senior Carson McHale had a long-range shot saved by Caledonia senior goalie Josh Petersen. The two sides then exchanged chances, as a close-range header by Caledonia junior Connor Winn was saved and on the other end Gerding had a one-timer from outside the box stopped as well. Both teams had chances to end the half but nothing else found the target, and the score was tied 0-0 heading into halftime.
To begin the second half Wildcats sophomore Alex Sullivan had a shot from outside the box that was saved by Petersen. The Wildcats found their breakthrough when Brown scored on a beautiful direct free kick from 30 yards out that went just under the crossbar and past the hands of Petersen that gave them the lead with 28:49 left in the second. After the goal both sides had opportunities, but neither was able to find the target. Later in the half Gerding had a left-footed shot from the top of box, but it was saved.
With 13:04 remaining in the second half Gerding scored with a shot into the bottom left corner off an assist from McHale to give the Wildcats a two-goal lead. The Wildcats stayed on the offensive following the goal, as Gerding had a left-footed shot from the top of the box saved and Brown narrowly missed the goal with a long-distance free kick. Lackey stayed sharp in goal stopping a long-range effort from Caledonia, while senior Zack Mercier and Brown had chances from distance saved as well.
Late in the half Caledonia sent numbers forward, as senior Eli Russell had a header off a free kick saved and a shot by fellow senior Jola Otten from inside the box missed just wide left of goal. With 1:26 left in the game Gerding received a yellow card, momentarily stopping play. Caledonia had a last gasp chance when a shot by McLane from the left side of the box was saved by Lackey in the final minute to seal the state championship for the Wildcats.
“This team will go down with the best I’ve coached, without any question. I can say that in the affirmative,” said Hayford, who noted the team won four different championships during the season. This included the preseason Goldsmith Tournament, the John Werner Tournament, the Southern Vermont League – C division title, and now the Division 4 state championship.
The victory is also significant for the Wildcats as while it was their third year in a row in the championship game as the No. 1 seed, they lost in the previous two tournaments to Winooski which ended their run. After last year’s loss Hayford was confident the Wildcats would be back, as most of the team was set to return this season. But after an offseason where they lost a couple of key players, including fullback Cash Garno who moved away and midfielder Steven Oyer due to injury, Hayford credited the rest of the team for filling those roles.
“Everybody stepped up a little bit in Steven’s absence, in Cash’s absence,” said Hayford. “Everybody just contributed a little bit more. That’s what it takes, and we told them that right from the get go ‘everybody’s going to have to give a little bit extra’ … and they did, I mean that’s exactly what happened, and here we are again.”
This is the first state championship for the Wildcats since they won consecutive Division 4 titles in 2019 and 2020, defeating Arlington and Proctor in those year’s finals respectively.
The Wildcats will lose nine seniors in Eckert, Lackey, McHale, Oyer, Mercier, Tucker Magnant, Max Nido, Pacei Reynolds and Brian Sullivan. While Hayford said these will be big losses, he is also confident in those who will be returning. One of the players who will return is Brown, who said the win will boost the confidence of the team moving forward, but is also just happy they were able to get a win for the seniors.
“We were motivated, a lot of seniors on the team, they knew [it was their] last shot,” said Brown. “They fed into it, everyone played into that too.”
