Marty Gordon
NRVsports@mainstreetnewspapers.com
Talan Bruce led Eastern Montgomery to this spring’s Class 1 state soccer championship and has been named the all-county/all-city co-player of the year.
Bruce was also named the Class 1 player of the year.
Bruce, a senior forward, capped off a stellar senior season with 40 goals and 16 assists in 21 games while leading the Mustangs to an 18-3-1 record and their first-ever state finals. His dynamic playmaking and leadership earned him First Team All-District, All-Region, and All-State honors, as well as the prestigious Player of the Year award at all three levels—district, region and state.
His 144 career goals are second for the most goals on the VHSL all-time list, and his 65 career assists place him fifth all-time. A first-team all-state selection the past two seasons, Bruce earned second-team honors as a sophomore.
The girls’ soccer player of the year is Blacksburg’s Erin Bishop, who was named Scholar All-American by United Soccer Coaches. She was one of only two players from Virginia.
Bishop finished this past year with 23 goals and 19 assists, being named the River Ridge District Player of the Year, first Team All-Region for 4A Region D and first team All-State for Virginia Group 4A/
Two local coaches are deserving of all-county/all-city honors. Travis Bishop is the all-county/all-city girls’ soccer coach of the year, and Auburn’s Kristopher Teaford is the boys’ soccer coach of the year. Both coaches took their respective teams to the state playoffs this past season.
