Competing to Win

 

Rob Ukrop, Collegiate’s varsity boys soccer coach, just smiled. He hesitated momentarily before delivering his answer.

 

“This year, I think there’re six teams that can win the state title, and we’re one of them,” he began. “We don’t have the dominant personality we’ve had in the past, but the season’s early. We were humbled by St. Christopher’s (on Sept. 16). They dominated the first half, but I thought we outcompeted them in the second half (of a 2-1 loss). We had some chances. So did they. We won the Tucker-Pitt Cup (by defeating Norfolk Academy 5-1 on the road), which is great. We’ve retained the cup 12 out of the 15 years that we’ve had it, so that’s nice.

 

But is this a rebuilding season? I inquired again.

 

“I didn’t give you an answer,” he replied with a grin as his guys warmed up on the Charlie Blair Field before a recent practice session. “I just rambled. I had an English teacher long ago that did that. We were diagramming sentences, I think.”

 

He paused for effect, then continued.

 

“We have the talent to win it all, but you know what, somebody might beat us on a given day,” he said. “That’s the beauty of this game. We (meaning he and assistant coaches Shep Lewis and Allie Albright) don’t come out in the afternoon with these young men not to win games. We believe in them. They’re performing well right now. We have some veterans that are still trying to grow into their roles. Once guys embrace their roles within the team structure, cool things are going to happen.”

OK, I said, but do you consider this a rebuilding year?

“I don’t really know what rebuilding means,” he replied. “I always expect to win. That’s in my DNA. In college (Davidson) and high school (Collegiate), we had a wonderful group of young men who weren’t the most talented, but we thought we were going to win every game, so I don’t like the word rebuild. Every time you go out there, you have a chance to do something special with the young men you really love and appreciate.”

 

Even though the Cougars have graduated several highly decorated impact players and linchpins including Colin Ryan, Will Neuner, Matthew Jenkins, Charles Nolde, Shaan Agarwal, and Peter Hartmann in recent years, the 2025 crew bolted to a 7-1-1 start while outscoring opponents 43-11.

 

During Ukrop’s tenure, the Cougars are 97-11-10. They won the Prep League each year from 2021-2024 and the VISAA in 2021 and 2023.

 

“Mr. Blair set this program up well,” said Ukrop, who took over in 2019 after Blair retired. “We were on great footing. With our guys, there’s an expectation. I’ve been reminding them that we can’t get complacent. All those victories and the history (including 12 league and three state titles on Blair’s watch) are there because of the hard work of the guys before us. They left everything they had on the field. I’m pretty sure every one of them would love to play just one more game in the Collegiate gold jersey.”

 

The Cougars stand 3-0 in the Prep League so far with key matches remaining with St. Christopher’s, Woodberry Forest, and St. Anne’s-Belfield.

 

“It’s competitive soccer,” Ukrop said. “Soccer is the cruelest game there is. That’s why we love it so much. You can play great and lose. You can play terrible and win. That’s the beauty of soccer.”

 

The Cougars have an experienced back line which includes goalie Ryland Musick, left back Colin McLoughlin, and center backs Taylor Jenkins and Ben Hager. Rhodes Neuner and Justin Entzminger split time at right back. When one plays defense, the other moves to attack.

 

Reid Campbell, a senior center midfielder, leads the team with 13 goals and four assists (30 points). Sophomore central striker Nasir Diggs-Majied has contributed five goals and three assists (13 points) and Junior central midfielder Jacob Timmons three goals and four assists (10 points). Musick has a .989 goals-against average.

 

“We’re hardworking individuals who want to do the best for the team every single day at practice and in games,” said Campbell.  “We really push each other. We have some of the best players here. When we train every day against players this good, it’s easy when we get into games because we know what it’s like to play against the best competition.”

 

The standard, long ago set, is high.  

 

Do meeting it and striving to surpass it create pressure? Or does it create yet another opportunity to excel?

 

“Just opportunity,” said Liam Brotherton, a Sophomore central midfielder. “We go out there every day and work hard and have fun. If we play our game, we usually come out on top.”

~Weldon Bradshaw