DANVILLE – Twinfield, Cabot, and Danville will officially complete their CCSU Athletics cooperative this coming fall with all three schools pooling their athletic talent in boys’ soccer for the first time as Caledonia United (CU).
Peter Stratman will take the reins as head coach this fall for CU after rebuilding a Twinfield-Cabot boys’ varsity program from the depths of despair into a perennial Division IV title contender. Stratman led the Trojans to 46 wins in his five years on the sidelines, including back-to-back Final Four appearances in 2021 and ‘22. Prior to Stratman’s arrival, the Twinfield boys’ soccer program hadn’t had a semifinal appearance in 21 years. Former Danville varsity boys’ soccer head coach Jeremy Withers will join Stratman’s coaching staff, along with Jordan Hale and former Cabot soccer great Daren Celley.
“With my own kids getting older and starting to play competitive soccer, there was uncertainty and trepidation to take on the challenge of building an entirely new program with three different communities. Luckily, Jeremy, Jordan, and Daren are able to help. They are supportive and great for the program, and everyone is going to have a hand in building this. I’ve had great battles on the pitch with Danville over the years and if you had told me 10 years ago, we would have a team called Caledonia United made up of kids from all three schools, I would’ve laughed. But it’s happening and we have 26 kids who came out for the team and we’re going to have the opportunity to have a junior varsity team because of that. A.D. Randy Rathburn and his staff have done a great job with the bussing system for the kids at all three schools to make the transition as easy as possible. We have an opportunity to build something special here together and form relationships between all three communities,” said Stratman.
On the pitch, Stratman will have to fill the graduation losses of defensive stalwarts Cooper Bernatchy, Dom Hale, Silas Robbins and Sam Russell, along with three-time Vermont All-State selection and the 60-plus career goal scorer Meles Gouge. He does return senior Darshan Eddleman who had career highs in goals scored last season, along with juniors Eli Russell, Sam McLane, and Sean Lehoe. Danville junior Josh Peterson will mind the net for CU this season and Danville teammate Elijah Andrews, Evan Whitehead, Samson Catonga, and Landon Fournier will add valuable experience in the midfield and on the backend of the defense. Stratman’s new squad will also have the challenge of moving up to a division III schedule this season.
“We had a good scrimmage against Hazen, everyone played 20 minutes, and I liked what I saw and feel good with what we have. It’s still so early and we have to develop cohesion as a unit. Darshan and Sam are fast, aggressive, and good with the ball, and Josh and Elijah have been really vocal and brave with the leadership that they’ve shown so far. We look forward to the challenge of a new division. We have skilled kids on this team who have been willing to come into a new environment and work hard together. This is not easy to do and I’m proud of all of them,” said Stratman.
Caledonia United will officially play their first game next Wednesday at Lyndon Institute.
