With such an impressive field in this weekend’s tournament, what can fans expect to see that may be different than other tournaments?

I think with the caliber of teams, the level is going to consistently be very high. Sometimes at the high school level you get schools that keep the ball down and play, and you have other schools that just have great athletes that can score goals pretty quickly. My sense of it is that when you talk Lenape and Paul VI (N.J.) and program’s like that – these are schools that like to get the ball down and play quality soccer. So I think you’ll see some great organized teams and some great individual players as well. Overall, I think the level of competition is going to be fun to watch.

What are the benefits of playing a tough out-of-league schedule at the beginning of the season and high-level competition that play with different formations and tactics?

For us, I think it’s important the year after you win a championship to challenge the kids. What you always worry about, especially with a veteran group, is a little bit of complacency. So what we tried to do is set up a non-conference schedule that makes it not possible. Our girls are going to have to be at 100 percent to get results this weekend and that’s exactly what we wanted. There’s going to be a serious upgrade in the level of intensity in the games and we’re really comfortable in that as far as where we are in the season.

How are things different within the program after winning the championship?

We are making sure that this particular group has its own identity. We have been pretty conscious about establishing traditions within this group just so they understand they are their own group and have their own legacy that they’re going to make for themselves.

If you can identify one key to successfully defend the championship what would it be?

I think our defending has to be consistently very good, because of the quality of the opposition is always there in the IAAM A Conference. I feel pretty good about our ability to score goals in games, but our defending and the coordination within our back four is going to be very important. Part of the quality of that back four is we have a lot of kids that are great soccer players, but three of them don’t play soccer year round. They do an excellent job for us and are extremely committed to the program, but making sure they understand exactly what we are asking from them and making sure they are on the same page within one another is going to be a real key.

Having been at McDonogh for three years now, what is your impression of the soccer in the area?

I think it’s extremely strong and I was impressed from Day 1 when I met the quality of player in our own program and then was extremely impressed once we got into league play. I grew up in Northern California, and soccer there is very strong there as well. But it just seems like the concentration of good teams is in a smaller area here and it’s all right in the Baltimore/Washington metro area. The level of competition is fantastic and it’s very concentrated, which is a really exciting thing to be part of.

From a personal standpoint, what are your thoughts on the accomplishments the program made last year?

Last year was an exciting year because the program hadn’t won in 12 years. But at the same time, I have a tremendous amount of respect for what [former coach] Maurice Boylan had done in building a program up from the ground and achieving a huge amount of success, and also creating a program that people wanted to be a part of. In the first year, a lot of what I tried to do was build on the great work that was going on already. Last year was a little different in a sense where we were able to forge our own identity in the program and do some different things with training and practice points. After my first year, nine out of the 18 kids graduated from the program, so last year I felt I was working with a group that was my own.

What’s the biggest reward you get from coaching?

It’s definitely the relationship you make with your players. I also teach at the school, I like the age group I am working with, and even at my previous school, I still stay in touch with some of my players and check in to see how they are doing in their college careers. The soccer stuff is great, too. I’ve always considered myself a soccer junkie, but the relationship with my players has always been the most important thing to me.

McDonogh Invitational

Friday – Paul VI (Va.) vs. McDonogh, 5 p.m.; Maryvale Prep vs. Pennington (N.J.), 5.
Saturday – Paul VI (Va.) vs. Maryvale Prep, 8 a.m.; Paul VI (N.J.) vs. McDonogh, 10 a.m.; Bishop O’Connell (Va.) vs. Lenape (N.J.), noon; Mercy vs. Pennington, 2 p.m.
Sunday – Paul VI (Va.) vs. Paul VI (N.J.), 8 a.m.; Lenape vs. McDonogh, 10 a.m.