BRISTOL — Overall, the Mount Abraham Union High School teams will be aiming for a little more success this fall than last fall.

Collectively, Eagle teams won two first-round Division II playoff games in the fall of 2023, and neither of those teams, girls’ soccer and field hockey, went on to win their quarterfinal matchups.

The Eagle boys’ soccer team hosted a playoff game, but fell just short of victory, while the Mount Abe-Vergennes collaborative football team couldn’t hold a late lead in its final game and ended up missing the Division II playoffs by a single point.

Not enough cross-country runners went to the D-II state meet to score as a team, and the Eagle bass anglers failed to duplicate a strong 2022 showing. The golf team sent a member to the D-II tournament as an individual, and he put forth a strong effort in taking second, but also graduated.

What to expect in 2024? Mount Abe Athletic Director Devin Wendel offered his insights.

GIRLS’ SOCCER

The girls’ soccer team’s successful 2023 season ended with a loss to traditional playoff rival Harwood — the Eagles and Highlanders have met in seven of the past nine D-II tournaments. Coach Dustin Corrigan’s Eagles have won most of the clashes, including the 2014 final. “It’s been bonkers how often we end up matched against them,” Wendel said of steady playoff pairings of the two perennial girls’ soccer contenders.

This year the Eagles should field a competitive side: the roster includes 11 seniors, and several younger veterans also return.

“We’re bringing back a lot of solid athletes,” Wendel said. “There are some juniors mixed in, and three freshmen that I think are going to be contributors.”

The team should have unusual depth, he added, with 19 athletes capable of contributing, which will allow Corrigan to keep fresh athletes on the field.

“Coach is going to feel pretty confident in putting any of his players into any situation at any point in the game,” Wendel said.

Wendel said another reason the team should have a successful campaign is chemistry, with many experienced athletes who have also been softball and/or basketball as well as soccer teammates.

“We have a lot of good multi-sport athletes,” he said. “We also have kids who just love soccer. If not year-round, they’re training six or eight months a year to get better. And I think this is just a smart group of players who have come up through the ranks … I think the mesh is good, and I think there is going to be really good leadership, too.”

BOYS’ SOCCER

The Eagle boys played well enough to get the No. 8 seed and host No. 9 Rice in the first round last year. But Rice, a team they had edged twice in the regular season in close games, pulled off a mild upset on the way to a berth in the D-II title game.

The team will have a new look this year, and not only due to major graduation losses: Former Eagle player and Addison United coach Chris Coffey takes over as the program’s coach. Coffey said he would emphasize fitness, a growth mindset and a positive team culture, while tailoring tactics to his players’ strengths.

As for the team, Wendel acknowledged the Eagles would have a different look, with only four returning seniors.

“We were definitely not senior-heavy,” he said.

But that doesn’t mean the cupboard is empty. As well as those four, junior James Graziadei was an all-state player a year ago and he and classmate Liam Lazare head a talented group of younger players to join with the seniors and help the Eagles be competitive once again, Wendel said.

“As the season goes on it will be a matter of how much are they going to be proving themselves,” he said.

Numbers are also strong, with 37 in the program, including three who could swing back and forth between varsity and JV.

“It’s a good little squad this year,” Wendel said. “I think the vision we have at the midfield is going to be super important.”

MAV FOOTBALL

Coach Jeff Stein’s MAV eleven’s 2023 season combined solid wins and disappointing setbacks, none more heartbreaking than the Eagles’ 14-13 season-ending road loss that left the 3-5 Eagles one win short of the D-II postseason.

Among the graduation losses were a 1,000-yard rusher and Shrine Bowl player and the team’s top receiver. But quarterback Rhett Lathrop returns, as do many of the team’s linemen, according to Wendel, and Lathrop can hand the ball off Cole Gagnon, while Tyler White and Clark Crary return as proven targets in the Eagles’ short passing game.    

“He (Stein) is excited about what he has up front. He’s excited about what he has coming back,” Wendel said. “When you look at what we have up front, we have a nice solid line.”

As always, establishing the run will be important, said Wendel, himself a former Eagle football player.

“Balancing that run game has been something our staff has been working more and more on,” he said. “You have to have something to keep the defense honest.”

In all, Wenzel said if the Eagles avoid injuries — and they are not the deepest of teams — they should again be in the hunt.

“Every game counts. We have to take care of ourselves. We have a small roster this year. We have to stay healthy. We have to stay tough,” he said. “And we have to go into every game like it’s our last one.”

FIELD HOCKEY

In 2023 Coach Jen Myers’s Mount Abe field hockey team, the last Eagle outfit to play a full Metro Division schedule against mostly D-I teams, did not rack up many wins in the regular season. But the Eagles’ strength of schedule earned them a D-II home game, which they won before a quarterfinal loss to eventual champion Hartford.

More offensive production will be vital if the team, which will be led by six returning seniors, is to improve its regular-season mark, according to Wendel, while the defense and goaltending (senior Rory Hendee returns in the cage) should be strong.

“The name of the game this year is really going to be who is really going to step up and be our goal-scorer,” he said. “I think we have some good stuff set up in the sense that we can hold some teams in check, for sure … It’s just a matter of are we going to put points on the board.”

The schedule will remain a challenge, with the benefit of raising the Eagles’ level of play, if they can maintain their confidence.

“We’re still playing a super-competitive regular season, which hardens you going into the playoffs, but it is a battle. We’re playing the best teams in the state every day. And it’s about keeping the chin up … and going into the playoffs,” he said.

CROSS COUNTRY

There’s no escaping the fact that current numbers are lower than typical for the Mount Abe cross-country running program, with seven boys and six girls signing up.

But Wendel believes new Coach Tucker Anderson can inject “new life” into the program, and said he and Anderson have talked about how to recruit for and build the program, with offseason training high on the list.

“He’s super invested, and did a great job over the summer getting them ready for the season,” Wendel said. “It’s hard to build that strength and stamina in the course of the season.”

Wendel and Anderson also talked about reestablishing the Mount Abe indoor track program as a way to make running a three-season sport at Mount Abe as a way to help build the cross-country program.

“Having continuity among those three programs will definitely pay off,” Wendel said.

Returners are few. The Eagles did not field scoring teams at the D-II state meet in 2023, and only three sophomores return from among the five athletes who did run: Rhiannon Andrews and Merissa Gordon on the girls’ side, and Ezaias Herben on the boys’ side. Wendel cited freshman Carson Norris as the newcomer with possibly the most initial promise.

Former coach Katie Burdett will also assist.

“Having the familiarity with Katie as a coach working with the program and having Tucker as a new point person is really exciting,” Wendel said.

BASS FISHING

Carroll Isham returns to coach and provide a boat for the Mount Abe bass fishing team this fall. The Eagles settled for 15th-place this past season after finishing second to Middlebury in 2022 by the smallest of margins.

As school started in late August only three sophomores had signed up to cast lines into Lake Champlain this fall. The program will also attend an early-season tournament hosted by Burr & Burton and try to get out as often as possible on top of the two sanctioned Vermont Principals’ Association events that make up the sport’s official season.

Isham came aboard late in the season a year ago to fill a vacancy, and this season has been able to get things rolling more smoothly, Wendel said.

“This year Carroll was able to step right in on Day One and meet at the school, going over knots and strategies and boat safety and all that,” he said. “And we started looking for other opportunities for kids … just to get that extra experience on the boat.”

GOLF

There is good news for the golf team, which will be coached by Emily Ringquist this fall.

“Golf is kind of exploding a little bit,” Wendel said, with nine golfers signed up, all underclassmen boys.

Two of the Eagles’ top four golfers from 2023’s small team graduated, Jack Breault and Walker Forand. Breault finished second behind OV’s Lucas Politano in the race for D-II medalist.

Returning from the Eagle team that came up short in qualifying for the D-II tournament as a group are Stefan Johnson and Brody Barnard, who shot respectable scores of 99 and 104, respectively, in the qualifying effort. Freshman Spencer Sears has some golf experience, Wendel said, but most of the rest of the team are learners: Those who emerge quickly and get around the course reasonably effectively will challenge for a scoring slot.

Overall, Wendel hopes that “Having the numbers will build that culture,” thus allowing what is a lifetime sport to obtain a more solid foothold at Mount Abe.

“Having the team go from one kid to nine over the course of three years is pretty cool,” he said.