Podcast: Worcester Academy’s Jen Marino previews 2022 NEPSAC Girls season

Worcester Academy girls soccer head coach Jen Marino joined 'The Goal.' (Courtesy photo)

The latest guest on New England Soccer Journal’s “The Goal” podcast is Worcester Academy girls soccer head coach Jen Marino.

Marino is entering her 10th season as head coach at WA. Last year, she guided the team to a record of 17-2-1 and a trip to the NEPSAC Class A championship game, where they fell to unbeaten Buckingham Browne & Nichols, the only team that defeated Worcester in 2021.

With the 2022 girls prep regular season set to begin across New England in just about three weeks, Marino joined the show to recap her team’s impressive performance last fall and preview what the upcoming campaign could look like for Worcester Academy and other contenders throughout the region.

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Here are some highlights from our discussion with Marino.

On what made last year’s Worcester Academy team special?

Marino: “I just felt like there was just so much great energy going into that summer ahead of last season, knowing there was going to be a season. I just don’t think we took anything for granted anymore. It was just great energy from the start that carried through preseason and through the season. It was just really happy for me to see these girls, who have worked so hard, finally get some competitive success and results. We had a veteran group, but there was also this sense of urgency from everyone, because of how long it had been since we had been able to play games. We just kind of carried that and continued to grow and progress as a group.”

On carrying momentum into this season:

Marino: “I’d like to think this year we have a high-percentage returning group from that team, that will have been there before and be able to deal with that excitement and those (big game) jitters a little bit better.”

On if defending Class A champ Buckingham Browne & Nichols remains the title favorite this year:

Marino: “(BB&N) has a lot coming back. I’d say for the next two years, for sure, they definitely have a lot of talent. I think there’s going to be even more teams at that top level this year than there were last year. I know Hotchkiss was excellent and will probably still be excellent this year. Westminster was up and coming and will only get better. Nobles will be good, (Phillips) Andover will be better. Rivers is going to be excellent, even though we don’t actually play them on our schedule. Tabor Academy should be very challenging. Those are just to name a few — Loomis will be great. I think it’s going to be even tighter in the top 1-8, which is exciting.”

On why BB&N has been do dominant:

Marino: “Just the pressure, the athleticism and the numbers they could send forward. We couldn’t solve that problem in the final. I watched the film a lot and there’s definitely things we could have done differently, but I don’t know if we would have been able to completely solve it last year. That, to me, is what made them different.”

On what her team needs to do to be ready for the season:

Marino: “I want to develop the chemistry on and off the field. We’re really trying to focus on what inclusion really means and looks like, in that it’s an active thing that needs to be worked on every single day and it doesn’t just happen naturally. I think we have to start there and everyone needs to be comfortable and everyone needs to feel like this is a family. If we can’t get to that point, we’re not going to be able to accomplish anything on the field. So that’s objective No. 1. Then we can focus more on the soccer, once we start the preseason. Identifying a style of play and game model, kind of on both sides of the ball that we want to have as our base and then go into the first week of the season with that, and then we can worry about making adjustments and wrinkles as the season goes on.”

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