MPHS Coach Reflects on Back-to-Back Soccer Championships

There were times during this year's boys varsity soccer season that the chance of winning a second state championship appeared grim to Manassas Park High soccer Coach Michael Martinez.

 It was early in the 2012 season when the team went head-to-head with one of its toughest opponents, Clarke County High School, and lost 5-4. Clarke handed the team one of only two season losses, Martinez said.

“We didn’t expect to lose to them; it was kind of like an,‘oh wow, this is not going to be an easy run,'” Martinez said.

The teams met again several weeks later; but this time, the match would end in a tie after two, five-minute overtime periods.

 Another unsettling moment came when the team played Nandua High earlier this month in the state quarter finals, the coach said.

“They played us really tough and we went into the third overtime before we were able to get the winning goal,” he said. “Toward the end of that game I was thinking, ‘I can’t believe this could possibly be over right now’ but thankfully, it wasn’t.”

 The team went on to secure back-to back State Group A championships when it played and defeated Northampton High School 4-3 on June 9.

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 “It wasn’t a cakewalk by any means … it took a lot of work and sticking to the game plan, so to speak, to make it all the way,” Martinez said of the team's most recent championship season.

 When asked why the team played so well together, Martinez said it is because most of the boys have played together for many years.

“The vast majority of them have been playing together for at least four years, if not five years … in that time, they really get familiar with the way each other plays and they learn to anticipate and have a feel for what each other is going to be doing,” he said.

“That’s a huge part of any successful team; just the chemistry that they have with one another is very important. The more time they have to play together, the stronger it's going to be.”

 With two championships in two years under its belt, it’s hard to believe there was a time when the team didn’t even have a winning season.

That time was eight years ago when Martinez took the position of  varsity soccer coach at Manassas Park High.

 “It was definitely the opposite of what we’ve been having the last few years,” he said. “It was pretty tough. We would win maybe one or two games a season.”

 The team steadily improved and about four seasons ago, it made its first regional run.

 Martinez said he doesn’t attribute the team’s improvement to his coaching.

 “Soccer is such a player sport. It really depends on the talent that you have,” he said.

 Soccer isn’t a highly-supported sport in the area either, but school divison administration and the families of now-graduates Silas Carden’s and Oscar Flores’ were always there, giving 100 percent support at the games, Martinez said.

Still on a high from capturng the state title, Carden, Flores and seven of their teammates left Radford University where the game was played and headed home to a . 

 As far as next season is concerned, Martinez said they lost nine seniors, but there is still a lot of talent on the team.

 “There are a few guys that I think are going to step up and be leaders,” he said. “The junior varsity program will feed us a couple of players, as well.”

 Varsity soccer season begins in February and lasts until the end of June.

Speaking of seniors, sports and success, here's a list of Manassas Park High's college-bound athletes and the schools they will attend, as reported by insidenova.com

John Byrd, football, Randolph-Macon
Silas Carden, soccer, Ferrum
Kelsey Cirrito, soccer, Mount Olive
Joey Gaouette, baseball, William and Mary
Austin McGowan, cheerleading, James Madison