DANVILLE – After a highly successful first season under the CCSU Athletics Cooperative (Twinfield-Cabot-Danville), head coach Spencer Morse will take the pitch with his girls’ varsity soccer team this fall as Caledonia United.
Morse took on the challenge last season of molding one team with players from three different communities in a new division with historical success. His then, CCSU Lady Bears played their best soccer late last fall, winning four of their last five matches, including a first-round upset of sixth-seeded Lake Region for the program’s first ever Division III playoff win. Their run ended in a tightly contested match with third-seeded Windsor, who made it all the way to the state title match.
He’ll have some retooling to do this season with the graduation losses of First Team All-Mountain League sweeper Cam Hoffman, team captain Alice McLane, Jasmine Reason, and Tieghan Perry. Morse does return a talented core however, led by Vermont All-State midfielder Sloane Morse as well as an experienced senior core that includes Hazel Abetti, Ida Astick, Carley Mancini, Taylor Carson, and Jorja Washburn. Junior Phoebe Crocker and sophomores Eliska Siebenbrunner. Cora Abetti and Chloe North return after playing key minutes throughout their playoff run last fall.
“Sloane is a great defender and has the ability to slow the game down and use her field vision and passing ability to find teammates, especially for through balls. Carley is fast and a very smart player with breakaway speed. Hazel is a tough player and her aggressiveness is key on both sides of the ball. Jorja is a super tough defender with speed. who continuously takes on the other team’s toughest marks. I look for Eliska and Cora to have breakout seasons for us,” said Morse.
Success breeds success and Morse’s program is enjoying record sign-up numbers for a second straight season under the new cooperative. Navigating the rigors of the rugged Mountain League to prepare for the Division III tournament is no easy task, but Coach Morse has shown in his nine years on the sidelines that his teams develop and only get better throughout the course of the season.
Cameron North will be on Morse’s coaching staff for the second straight season and Liza Morse comes aboard for her first.
“Our second season as a cooperative and first season with a new name, we expect to continue the learning and chemistry building process. We had 25 players sign-up this year and are scrambling to make a junior varsity schedule. This will only improve player development and success for the program going forward. Our main focus presently is getting some key personnel healthy and getting our newcomers up to speed as quickly as possible,” said Morse.
Caledonia United is scheduled to open their season at home (Danville) next Tuesday against BFA-Fairfax.
