Today we take a deep dive into a division with diverse talent and competition. Division II displayed some great soccer a season ago, and we should be in store for much more this fall. 

 One of the more heated rivalries in the state decided last year's championship as Bow walked away victorious over the Pembroke Spartans. 

 Both teams will certainly be back in the mix again, but they won't be alone. Teams like John Stark and Hollis Brookline, their opponents in the Final Four have reloaded and are ready to take things a step further this season. 

 Pelham is looking to insert themselves into that mix after being somewhat of a dark horse team a season ago, and Milford, Merrimack Valley, Lebanon, and many others will look to join the race for a Division II title. 

 

Our column today is brought to you by our partners at River Valley Community College!

Located in Claremont, River Valley Community College is a terrific option for students from both New Hampshire and Vermont looking to earn a two-year degree or earn transferable credits toward a four-year degree

 

Pre-Season Top 10

1. Bow 

2. Pembroke 

3. John Stark

4. Hollis-Brookline 

5. Pelham

6. Milford 

7. Lebanon

8. Merrimack Valley

9. Coe-Brown

10. Kennett

 

 The reigning champion Bow Falcons are back and ready for more this season. Head coach Jay Vogt has been pleased with the way his group has approached things so far. “We are very big on family,” said Vogt. “We have really pushed it. The importance of being as one, playing as one, and having the same goals. That is what we try and do year in and year out”  

 The Falcons graduated seven seniors, but still have a very good core of the championship team intact. 

 The LaPerle twins, Bella and Lyndsey, bring a high motor. Before they are causing havoc on the basketball court, they are initiators on the offensive end of the field for Bow on the pitch. 

 “They just bring a lot of energy and intensity,” said Vogt. “Both in the game and practice, everyone else feeds off that.”

 Sydney Roberge and Lexi Insana have stepped up into bigger roles this fall. “Sydney stepped up last year and this year even more so,” said Vogt. “She has more confidence and has been a leader.” 

 Insana saw time last year as a freshman and will see even more as a sophomore. “She is much more confident in the midfield,” said Vogt. 

 Defensively is where things will look a bit different for the Falcons, having graduated three of four starters on that end. The lone returner is Marissa Green, who will be moving into a central defensive role this season. “She wanted to do it and has done a great job so far,” said Vogt. 

 Bow will look to fill in the gaps they have, but the experience they bring certainly puts them in contention for another run. “We are working towards the end of the year,” said Vogt. “I let the team pick their goals together. I let it all be them. We want to get better every game and every day with the end of the season in mind.”

The top seed from a season ago, the Pembroke Spartans are looking to do more of the same from last season. 

 Head coach Jess Kaufman had 40 girls go out for the team this year following the best year in program history. “We had a wonderful season last year,” said Kaufman. “We want to take all that success and clutch victories and they want to replicate them and continue that success.” 

 It all starts with seniority and experience for the Spartans. Kyla Chase has been an impact player ever since taking the field as a freshman. “She is looking to come back and make an impact,” said Kaufman. 

 Chase along with Ryley Leblanc got injured during last season's postseason run and both are motivated to get back on the pitch this fall. “They are healthy and ready to get back into it,” said Kaufman. “We will lean on them.” 

 Mackenzie Hawkins will be the defensive catalyst for Pembroke this season. “She is going to take some newer folks that hadn’t gotten big minutes before and command in the back and take them under her wing,” said Kaufman. 

 The Spartans also return a strong sophomore class that features the likes of Jaylin Ladd and Bailey Gatchel who Kaufman sees assuming leadership roles at a young age. 

 The goal early on remains simple for Pembroke, “play the kind of soccer we like to play,” said Kaufman. “We often say we just try to play controlled and composed and in the end let the ball do the work.” 

 With a strong core returning, Pembroke looks to be right atop the standings once again this season. 

 John Stark is fresh off a Final Four appearance and returns most of the same core that helped get them to the semifinals. Head coach Chris Pike has even more to prove. “The Final Four appearance showed how well we worked as a team,” said Pike. “We have the potential to hit the Final Four and even go all the way.” 

 There is not one dominant player for the Generals, it is an overall team effort on both ends of the field. “We play a very different style of soccer compared to other teams,” said Pike. “You can’t mark one player when you play John Stark. Other teams created a star player to target, once they were man marked they didn’t have another plan to go to.” 

 Megan Mefford is a crafty lefty up front and plays alongside Megan Rousseau up top. Makayla Pellerin has been fantastic in the center for John Stark. 

 Melody Couturier really stepped up for John Stark last season. “She took on the role of distributing and becoming the playmaker,” said Pike. 

 Sam Veilleux, Elizabeth Hatfield, Sophia Lamothe, and Madison Porth make up a physical and strong holding John Stark defense. 

 Midfielder Sophia McGinty is one of the best defensive players on the Generals. “She can play a 100-minute game marking the best players in the state without getting a foul called against her,” said Pike. “All of them have their own unique qualities and when you put them together they become the Stark team.” 

 The experience this group got us sophomores and juniors should translate into their play this fall. “The chances are there,” said Pike. “If they step up and play their game, they will be a very dominant team in the division again.” 

 While being one of the smallest schools in Division II, it will be about confidence for John Stark. “I have to get into their head that you are a great team, but you can’t relax,” said Pike. “I have all the confidence in them. They have to have the confidence in themselves to do it. I know what they can do, it’s a case of them coming out showing everybody else.” 

 Hollis-Brookline went right down to the wire with Bow in last year’s semifinal. The 2-1 OT loss has left the Cavaliers motivated and ready for more. “It was an absolute classic,” said head coach Peter Clarke. “We could not have played any better.”

 While the graduated 10 seniors, the youth on this team has certainly helped fill that void and make the transition a bit easier. “We have been blessed with strong young players,” said Clarke. “Our last two freshman classes have been really good.” 

 The Cavalier captain will be Madeline Boudreau and Paige Magnuszewski. Boudreau will have a prominent role in the backfield for HB.

 Magnuszewski is described as a “site to watch” by her head coach with her great skills in the midfield. “She is an artist,” said Clarke. “A lot will go through her for us.” 

 McKenna Maguir returns as a sophomore and is an immediate scoring threat up top. Joining her will be fellow sophomore Lilly Bouchard. “I expect a lot out of her,” said Clarke. 

 Lauren Holt will find herself in a more active role in the midfield this season while Kiera King slides back into a defensive role she excelled in as a freshman. 

 “We have youth experience and more pure youth this year,” said Clarke. “They made a great impact last year.” 

 For the Cavaliers, it may come down to scoring enough goals when it is all said and done. “It is going to be a matter of being productive enough up front,” said Clarke. “We want to get back to the good possession game we played last year, especially against Bow. We can be up in that group of five to six teams. I think we will do well.”

 Pelham turned a lot of heads last year, and with the talent, they return this season they shouldn’t catch anyone by surprise this time around. “Nobody knew us last year,” said head coach Carlos Fuertes. “By the end of the season, we knew we would be known. The expectations are a little higher for us this year.” 

 The Pythons only had around 12 players available for every game last season. “We did very well considering that is all we had,” said Fuertes.

 Only one senior graduated from last year’s team, and the new freshman class should have an immediate impact. 

 Lindsey Butler, Ashlyn Walsh, and Carlee Sloan all return as key components for Pelham’s attack in the middle of the field. Maddie Cote brings great speed to the forward spot and helps make up an exciting offense for the Pythons. 

 Sophia Joncas and Kate Burke have a knack for the attack but settled in nicely on defense last season. “That nucleus is really strong for us,” said Fuertes. 

 Lexy Brodeur has impressed early on as a freshman and has begun to carve out a role for herself up front. “She is an overall talented player,” said Fuertes. “She will help us with our attack.” 

 Another freshman to add to the mix is Grace Riley, a lefty forward for Pelham this season. “She will allow us to do some stuff up front,” said Fuertes. 

 Overall, Pelham is primed to take a big step forward this season. “Last year we had some perfect moments of playing soccer,” said Fuertes. “That is what I want to get to again this year. It is difficult but can be done if the whole team works together. We will have to take it one game at a time.

 Milford is ready to redeem themselves after a frustrating loss to John Stark in the quarterfinals last season. 

 Head coaches Betsey Hansen and Russ Matthews feel they have a very experienced group coming back to make a deep run. 

 Marissa Sage, Kate Hansen, Ava Hutcheons, Emily Loyd, Addie Hopkins, and Caroline Tessier are all three-to-four year varsity with great skill and game experience. The veterans of this team will be focal points from the start.

 Alina St George and Keely Giordano will step into bigger roles and round out the starting lineup for the Spartans. 

 Milford will look to take advantage of the opportunities they have in front of them and look forward to a competitive fall ahead. 

 Lebanon will have a bit of a new look group this season after key departures of seniors from the 10-6 squad last year. Head coach Breck Taber is ready for what is ahead of the Raiders this season. 

 “We are a mix of a lot of varsity experience and no varsity experience,” said Taber. “Getting everyone on the same page and level has been the biggest challenge to date.” 

 Back to lead the way will be Mary Rainey and Delaney Deshane, both seniors and four-year varsity players. Rainey and Deshane have all-state resumes, Rainey as a midfielder, and Deshane as a forward, and those will need to be on full display this season. “They are the leaders of our team both on and off the field,” said Taber. 

 Without any sophomores and just a few freshmen on the team, the junior class, specifically Sophie Longacre, Sydney Deshan, and Madison Jewell will be asked to step into bigger roles this season.

“They are all in their third year of varsity so they will set the tone for the rest of the class,” said Taber. 

 After falling short in the playoffs last season, Lebanon is ready to start a new chapter.

 “Each year we set out to make the playoffs,” said Taber. “We want to improve and grow both as a team and individually and we want to have fun. I think if we play up to our potential we should be able to accomplish all of those goals.”

 Coming off a quarterfinal appearance, Merrimack Valley is looking to put together a season of consistency. Following a mid-season slump, the Pride were able to put things together and pull off a win in PKs over Lebanon in a great upset. “They persevered,” said head coach Kylee Yam. 

 There were a lot of key seniors on last year’s squad, so Merrimack Valley will look a bit different this season. What will look the same is the defensive line that held up well for most of last season. “We want to keep that strong line and tactically build up the field,” said Yam. 

 Chloe Morgan, Jules Palhof, and Sierra Mercer return to control a midfield that will be very important to the success of the Pride. “We will lean on them pretty heavily to create a nice solid triangle,” said Yam. “They are all technical and physical.” 

 Colby Magoon will be a potential scoring threat and big-time goal scorer for MV and Samantha Bruillard, RaeAnna DeVone, and Hannah Verville will have a shot at some reps in the net this fall. 

 “As long as the confidence builds, we should be pretty good in terms of starters and subs,” said Yam. “We want to come together as more of a possession team, work the short passes, and build the attack. This is a strongly bonded team. If we can keep the strong backline and tactically build up the field we should be in a good spot.” 

Coe-Brown is a group ready to hit the ground running. “We are chomping at the bit to play someone,” said head coach Josh Hils. 

 The Bears come back another year older and are ready to take big strides this season.” To say we were a young team last year was an understatement,” said Hils. “The core of our team is the sophomore and junior classes. They’ve all got a full season of varsity under their belt already.” 

 Senior Mary Joy returns after an all-state defensive season a year ago. “She is just an exceptional defender,” said Hils. “She is kind of the leader of the team, the core of the back.” 

 Another all-state honorable mention player for the Bears last season was Somer Loto, who returns as a junior looking to control the midfield for Coe Brown. “Somer is a really special player,” said Hils. “We are expecting a breakout year for her this year.” 

 Senior Rebecca Scruton has shown some great things early on at a new position and the Bears are excited to have Lily Wolf return after missing last season. “Those players are going to play a lot of important minutes for us,” said Hils. 

 After just barely missing out on the playoffs last season, the Bears hope to find themselves back there come late October. “Our schedule is competitive, no easy games,” said Hils. “We will know come playoff time where we stand. There will be no question if we belong or don’t belong.”  

 Early on, it will be about gradual improvement to reach their big goals. “We want to make sure, especially being young, that we are growing and improving every time we step on the field,” said Hils. “We understand that if we did something well today, tomorrow we want to do it excellently.” 

 The Bears will be young and exciting to watch this fall. 

 Kennett has high hopes to build off a season that was the best finish in program history at the Division II level. 

 Despite some unfortunate injuries and luck, the Eagles competed last season, and head coach Ron Krieger thinks his group can grow even more from last season. “We are a strong Kennett team,” said Krieger. “12th was our highest finish ever in Division II, we want to build on that.” 

 Early on it will be figuring things out defensively for the Eagles. Junior goalkeeper Hannah Norris-Parsons despite a lack of size for the position will step in between the posts for the Eagles this fall. 

 Ashley Garside has been a starting defender for Kennett for the last two years and should provide stability early on in the back.

 Freshman Lydia Wiggin has shown flashes of potential early on. “She is showing promise as a soccer player,” said Kreiger. “She is one of the more natural players I have had the privilege to cover.” 

 Sophia Odell and Jocie Anzaldi are two players who are stepping into bigger roles this season as seniors

 Shannon Abrams did a semester in Italy last year and could provide a good boost up front as a forward. 

 To top things off, Kendall Kreiger brings a lot of balance and stability to the Kennett attack. The Eagles certainly have more depth than they have had in the program in quite some time. 

 Things are starting to line up for Kennett, it will be about executing and winning the games they should. “We are hoping to have a better playoff outcome,” said Kreiger. “It would be good for the program to get a win over a team in the upper tier.” 

 Con Val head coach Derek Sorbello is excited about the progress his group has made in the last year. Sorbello was an assistant for the Cougars last season, and even though they were really in a “rebuilding season” they still managed to go 6-8-2 and go all the way to a shootout with Stevens in the first round. 

 “It was a case of taking it a few games at a time to figure out who we were last year,” said Sorbello. “We figured it out towards the end.” 

 The Cougars return young once again this year, after losing five starters from last year’s team. “There is a bit of a gap to fill at this point,” said Sorbello. 

 Sophomore Ray Covey takes over as the starting goalkeeper for Con Val and in front of her will be captains Tasha MacNeil and Abby Rodnenhiser stepping into the center-back positions. 

 “Tasha and Abby played significant time for us defensively last year,” said Sorbello. “The good news there is they have the experience and know what we want to do.” 

 Morgan Bemont and Eva McCullough are seniors and captains for Con Val this season. “They have both played varsity since they were freshmen,” said Sorbello. “They will be holding up the midfield for us.”

 Sophomores Zoey Lazzaro, Eliza Bull, Alli Burgess, and Brooke Johnson all played significant roles as freshmen a season ago. “We are looking for them to take that next step,” said Sorbello. 

 The Cougars should be battle-tested come playoff time, with a regular season schedule of top-quality opponents ahead of them. “It is going to be one of those seasons where you can’t take your foot off the gas,” said Sorbello. “Every game we are going to be in for a fight. Don’t let up, because you are not going to be able to.”   

 Keene makes the move down to Division II and the excitement has never been higher for Shannon Summers and the Blackbirds. “It will be beneficial for the program to rebuild and for the girls in general for their confidence,” said Summers. 

 The interest in the program is high, with 50 players going out for the team this season. Leading the way for Keene this year will be senior captains Marin Shaffer and Molly Chamberlin. 

 Chamberlin will be a go-to forward for the Blackbirds who should find the net more than a few times this season. “I am hoping we can get her some tallies this year,” said Summers. “She is hungry for more this year. It’s her senior year and she is excited about it.”

 Rylee Day and Jadera Betancourt will join Shaffer in the midfield and should create a lot of chances for the Blackbirds. “They are the heartbeat in the midfield,” said Summers. “I expect them to create some chances for our forwards.” 

 Senior Kenzie Waterman returns this season after an ACL injury sidelined her last year. “We missed her last year,” said Summers. “She has a really strong left foot. I am excited to have her back.” 

 This year will be about building confidence for Keene and getting back to winning ways at the Division II level. “After a tough season last year, we are excited to have a new energy,” said Summers. “I am looking forward to more competitive games for us. I hope this group can help rebuild the program.” 

 Sabrina Rivers takes over at Oyster River and has a roster that is young but talented and ready to take the field this fall. Seven freshmen will join the varsity roster this year. “They are all very skilled and talented players, they fit right in,” said Rivers. 

 Returning on the defensive side of the ball, Hailey Bromley and Sophie Royal will lead the way from the center-back positions. “They are big parts of our team defensively,” said Rivers. 

 Sara Camargo will be in a midfield role for the Bobcats this season and will look to make an impact on both ends of the field.

 Joining Camargo in the midfield is freshman Aly Alcocer. “She has been fantastic playing in the middle,” said Rivers. 

 While this will be a younger team, things have started to click for this group early on. “The emphasis early on has been connecting and working as a team,” said Rivers. “We want to connect and find feet, move the ball quickly, and start feeling comfortable under pressure.” 

 Experience will be key for the Bobcats this year, and especially for the years to come. “The big thing is that they are a young team but they are fierce,” said Rivers. “The most important thing for me is making sure the girls are getting better and they are so far. Our future looks really bright.”

 The commitment has been there all summer long for the Kingswood Lady Knights. Shane Flood is back for his second year with the program and is excited about the progress his group has made. “We are trying to reload this program,” said Flood. “The big change for this program has been the work put in over the offseason. We had twelve weeks in the weight room and worked on our short game in the winter.” 

 Kingswood will be led by senior captains Marcella De Nitto and Avery Dinges. Defensively Sara Hyde and Alexis Bartlett return to solidify the backline for the Lady Knights. 

 Kamdyn Hobbs and Tarynn Kelly will slide back into the midfield and senior newcomer Ana Baurle joins the group to help add some versatility to the lineup. 

 “They have a lot of drive,” said Flood. “They know they’re the underdogs. I think they can make some heads turn.” 

 Sophomores Rowan Donovan-Laviolette, Madison Eaton, Kyllie Rapozza, Sierra Rose, and Marina Roy got valuable experience as freshmen and will be building blocks for the future. “They are the core group, we want to build the program around them,” said Flood. 

 Coming off just three wins last season, Kingswood is hoping to improve in that department. “I hope they can defy expectations,” said Flood. “They’ve been working hard. It is going to be interesting.” 

 Sammy Blizzard returns for her second year at the helm as head coach at Plymouth and they return a good chunk of last year's roster. “I am very optimistic,” said Blizzard. “A lot of positive attitudes. They came to play this year.” 

 Last year was a year of growth for the Bobcats and certainly one of getting to know one another. “It was an adjustment,” said Blizzard. “A lot of new things to learn and a lot of players to get to know. I am more comfortable and confident this year and the girls are too.” 

 Senior Nina Vermeersch returns as a big piece in the midfield. “She is going to be a huge asset,” said Blizzard. “Nina will be controlling the midfield and she will have no problem doing that. She is a very talented player.” 

 Joining Vermeersch will be juniors Sydney Valenti and Emma Smith. “We think Syd can be sharp on the outside and we can use her to create width,” said Blizzard. “Emma will play with Nina in the middle. We are hoping they can make some good combinations together. We put a lot of trust in them. They are up for the challenge.” 

 Morgan Ellis-Makovsky will control the defense for the Bobcats and sophomore Anna Boyer and freshman Johanna Wakefield are looking to make big contributions as underclassmen. 

 “Anna will be versatile as an outside midfielder or outside defender,” said Blizzard. “Johanna has great speed and is a great attacker.”

 Last season was Plymouth’s first year playing Division II competition again after a season of playing local opponents the year before. It was certainly an adjustment. “This year is all about growth,” said Blizzard. “We will be stronger with that year under our belt.”