LEBANON, N.H. – There was a six-year hiatus in the team banquet that has been a rich part pf the half-century history of the Twin State Lions Cup Soccer Games.
But it was back Sunday. And an underlying theme was Coaching Musical Chairs.
It was a surprise to even some of the Lions that the Vermont girls coach was not Fair Haven’s Teri Perry but rather Windsor’s Wendy Moody.
Then, there was a little twist on the Vermont boys coaching staff. Green Mountain Union High School’s Jake Walker will be the head coach and his assistants are his father Scott Walker and Springfield High head boys coach Derek Graham.
Here’s the twist: Walker was not the GMUHS boys coach last year, but was on a soccer staff at Keene State College. He is returning to be Green Mountain’s head coach this coming season and his father Scott will be back as his goalie coach.
The 2026 Twin State Lions Cup event will be on July 18 at Hanover High School. The doubleheader will pit top recent graduates of Vermont against their New Hampshire counterparts in a men’s and women’s game.
Both Vermont teams will hold a practice on July 11 at Vergennes Union High School followed by scrimmages on two different fields at noon.
The banquet’s guest speaker was Tom Raffio, the CEO and President of Northeast Delta Dental, a Twin State Lions Cup Soccer sponsor.
“Being partners with the Lions is amazing,” Raffio said, praising the Lions for “their willingness to serve.”
He extended that to the players.
“There is no soccer without the students-athlete’s willingness to participate,” Raffio said.
“We are honored that you have allowed us to be one of your sponsors. We will continue to support it.”
He said to the players, “Some of you will go on to play in college and maybe beyond.”
There will be two Rutland County players on the field that day, one in each game, and both will be going on to play soccer at the college level.
West Rutland’s Brayden Schutt, a team MVP in the Green-Gold Senior Games, is going to play for the University of New England in Biddeford, Maine.
Schutt said that what solidified his choice was “just the coaching staff and the atmosphere.”
Schutt has a longtime love of the game and a piece of that involved a trip where he was able to play soccer in Spain. Andy Halligan was a coach for the team on the trip and also an assistant coach at UNE, another connection that helped Schutt to nail down his choice.
Poultney’s Eme Silverman will have a hard time matching her high school soccer thrill in the Twin State Lions Soccer event, but she ‘ll try.
Silverman scored the only goal in the Division IV state championship game to give the Blue Devils their first state crown in girls soccer.
Following the Lions game, she will continue playing on the collegiate level at Elmira.
“I went on an overnight visit to Elmira,” Silverman said, adding that she felt it was a great fit for her.
She will be majoring in Environmental Science.
Silverman and Schutt are both taking classes at Vermont State University as the component of “early college” for high school seniors.
The four teams got to meet with their head coaches following the meal, another tradition that had been missing since the banquet was lost to COVID.
Sunapee soccer coach Rob Grabill told the players that the meeting with their coaches was an important piece of getting the experience started.
“It makes for a better game,” Grabill said.
Moody’s assistant coaches will be Jennifer Rupp and Ben Marlow.
She said after assuming the job, she had to make some late changes to replace players. The additions are North Country goalie Randi Fortin and Essex midfielder Koa Plante.
Moody will also have two of her own Windsor players on the squad — midfielder Kenzie Scott and Gabby Crane.
“Kenzie has a nose for the ball and is a great distributor,” Moody said.
“Gabby is a defender. She takes a personal pride in making sure that nobody gets past her.”
The affair was well attended by the players, but Colchester’s Brinlee Gilfillan had the best possible reason for not attending. The talented sprinter was competing in the National Track & Field Meet in Boston.
Funds raised from this charity event are equally divided between the two states . The Vermont Lions donate their funds to operate the Green Mountain Lions camp for deaf and hard of hearing children.
The New Hampshire funds go to the Lions Sight & Hearing Foundation which supports vision and hearing projects across New Hampshire.
NOTES: Vermont assistant coach Scott Walker was the first Green Mountain Union High School player to play in the Lions soccer game when he was a goalie in 1982. … The New Hampshire head girls coach was part of one of the most incredible stories of the 2025 season in either state. It was thought that his Stevens Cardinals might not have a season due to a budget crisis and then they won the state title. They were 20-0 and allowed only three goals all season. St. Pierre has how own midfielder Addison Derosier from Stevens on the New Hampshire team. … Vermont’s Brycen Scharff played on a Harwood team that went 36 consecutive games without losing and that string included two state crowns.
