Our Lady of Good Counsel has lost multiple Division 1 recruits and isn't the least bit worried about a dropoff. Welcome to the stable world of Falcons soccer.
Photo by Ken Inness
What do you do for an encore when you've already accomplished everything?
Try to do it again. It's called the pursuit of excellence.
Our Lady of Good Counsel coach
Jim Bruno and his players are masters at it. They are also one of 10 fall girls teams to be honored as a national title Early Contender, presented by adidas and Dick's Sporting Goods.
Senior Imani Dorsey
Photo by Ken Inness
Bruno, the only coach
Good Counsel (Olney, Md.) has known since going co-ed in 1988, carries a 394-92-47 mark into the 2013 fall season. The Falcons have been ranked No. 1 in the nation three times and have been in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America's Top 25 poll 18 times. They have also won eight Washington Catholic Athletic Conference championships and have been to the playoff final 11 times.
It never gets old. The challenges never cease, either.
For example, Good Counsel expects to excel this season despite missing the 101 career goals of striker Midge Purce, who has moved on to Harvard. In all, the Falcons will be playing in 2013 without four NCAA Division 1-bound players they leaned on a year ago.
No matter. Bruno returns a player he calls one of the top goalkeepers in the nation, Michigan commit
Megan Hinz. Like in Purce, the coach also has another player to summon who's part of the United States Women's National Team player development pool, midfielder
Imani Dorsey.
See all the 2013 Fall Soccer Early ContendersBruno loses a host of top defenders from his back four in 2012, but has another stellar group waiting to step in. Purce is gone, but
Nia Dorsey, the younger sister of Imani Dorsey, is ready to flourish up top.
"We have depth at all of our positions," Bruno said, "and feel this team has even better balance offensively and defensively than the 2012 team."
That's what you do for an encore.
In addition to a challenging WCAC schedule, Good Counsel is playing four teams that were ranked in the NSCAA’s top 25 last season, including No. 1 Maria Carrillo of California. The Falcons will also travel to Nashville to face Tennessee powers Brentwood and Franklin.
See the entire Our Lady of Good Counsel photo galleryLocal outlook: “Their kids are not cocky; they’re not arrogant. They’re good and they know it, but they don’t make a big deal of it... It’s a classy program top to bottom.”
- Severna Park coach Todd Clark, as told to Eric Detweiler of the Washington Post (@edetweiler)
