Fielding a team of all sophomores and freshmen at the varsity level didn’t stop Class I coaches from acknowledging the talent on this year’s Bedford girls soccer squad.

And though only two Lady Bulldogs, Sarah Kelley and Hailey Kunkel, made the team, both as honorable-mention picks, coach Michelle Winning said the recognition is a testament to the talent and attitude of all 17 players on the field.

“These two girls have a lot of skill to add to their heart and desire, which rubs off a little on the other girls, but we had 15 other players that worked extremely hard as well and really complemented the two that got honorable mention,” said Winning.

“We couldn’t do what we did without any of them.” What they did was make the Class I playoffs in the program’s first year.

Of course, Winning said both Kelley and Kunkel were deserving of the honor.

“Haley was our No. 1 defender,” Winning said of the freshman standout. “She played as a sweeper and basically just cleaned up every mistake we had in the back(field) and kept us in a lot of games recovering other players mistakes.”

“Sarah Kelley is just an all-around strong player,” the coach continued. “She is a play maker who controls the midfield using her strong practical and technical abilities.”

West
Samantha Myers of Bedford made Class L second-team allstate and classmate Kimberly Shaughnessy received honorable mention accolades for their 2007 efforts at West High School.

Myers, who plans to attend Middlebury College, where she will study to become a doctor, lettered all four years for the Blue Knights. She helped West win two state titles while compiling 45 victories in 64 regular season games.

A member of the National Honor Society, the senior was chosen as the Junior and Senior Fall Female Athlete and won the Student-Athlete Leadership Award.

On Dec. 2, Myers tries out for the Lion’s Cup team which competes against the best players in Vermont each July.

Shaughnessy, who plans to attend Colby Sawyer College as a psychology major, played varsity soccer at West the last three seasons.

West coach Kris Komisarek said Shaughnessy, the team’s leading scorer, was awarded the team’s Most Valuable Player.

“She is one of the most versatile soccer players that has come through West High School,” said Komisarek. “Kim is a player that a coach can count on when in need of a quick goal.”

Shaughnessy scored three game-tying or go-ahead goals this season.

For the West boys team, Jonathan Jean-Louis earned second- team all-state recognition.

His coach, Ben Brewster, said the player can best be summed up by his playoff performance against Goffstown, when he led the Blue Knights back from a two-goal deficit to defeat the Grizzlies in double overtime.

Jean-Louis headed the game winning goal into the back of the net and earlier assisted on West’s first goal.

“He had five or six games like that, especially when we were 0-0, and all of a sudden he made a great run and slipped past the defense. He just took all the pressure off the rest of the team by helping us score first,” said Brewster. “Playing up front, he takes a lot of abuse from people banging him and yet still responded well despite other teams trying to slow him down physically.”

Jean-Louis’ talent was most evident when he was one on one with the goal keeper, said his coach, who noted the forward always seemed to find the right spot for his shot.

Moreover, besting roughly 60 other Class L forwards for all-state recognition is not only a credit to Jean-Louis, but also those around him whom he made better, said Brewster.

“There were quite a few kids from different schools, including ours, who were really good players and were left out, so it was great to see him get second-team recognition,” he said.