McDonough girls soccer to use the motto ‘ONE’ for 2016 season
McDonough girls soccer team uses motto for 2016 season
The motto is plain and simple, “ONE.”
The McDonough High School girls soccer team are going all in to embrace it as the 2016 regular season gets underway.
The Rams, who were scheduled to kick off their season on Tuesday evening at Patuxent in a Southern Maryland Athletic Conference nondivision matchup, are focusing on the motto that means all 11 players on the field are playing as one cohesive unit.
“For us it represents us playing together as one unit and we want to all play for each other and be motivated for each other,” McDonough head coach Dave Bradshaw said. “If one person falters, we all falter. We do everything together, so we definitely want to buy in to being one cohesive unit.”
After advancing to the Class 1A North Region championship game last fall — losing to Carroll County’s Manchester Valley — the Rams hope to improve on their 9-6 overall record last season, which included a third-place 4-2 mark in the SMAC’s Potomac Division.
“The girls came into the season motivated and ready to work hard and that really set the tone for us,” Bradshaw said. “They have high expectations of themselves and of each other. I think the energy and competitiveness the girls show has really driven us to have another good season.”
On the motto, McDonough junior defender Elizabeth Saoud, an All-County second-team selection a year ago, said, “One embodies what we are trying to do with the team and how we are trying to grow as a family. We want to stick together and support each other and even if we make mistakes, we have time to grow from them.”
With a bevy of returning players and new incoming players, it should be another promising year for the Rams.
“We have some new talent and some returning players. We have a very good mix,” Saoud said. “We have all the positions covered and we work really well together.”
Months before a ball hit the soccer pitch, the Rams at times took part in team-building activities they hope will lead to success on the field this season.
“If you are not all together, then you won’t be disciplined and be able to fight through adversity,” said Rams junior starting goalkeeper Carley Hebb, who was also selected to the All-County second team last season. “Coach Bradshaw is centered on everyone being together because he’s realized that if you don’t play together, then you won’t be as successful. Being one team is big for us. We have little parties and get-togethers that create team bonding, so we are well connected on and off the field.”
The Rams know being in a team environment does wonders.
“Last year we were very young and had a great playoff run,” Bradshaw said. “Unfortunately we took a knock in the regional final, but we knew where we wanted to be, so we made some changes to try to motivate and get better in practice. Like every sport, we want to take it one game at a time and we truly just want to get better each day. We see the potential with the hard work and dedication that we put in.”
Bradshaw noted that the saying really symbolizes the outlook of the team.
“It fits us as a team and we have one goal from the beginning of the season and we are not going to stop until we get it,” Bradshaw said. “We are continuing to take that next step and we want to be one of the teams that year in and year out are competing at the next level.”
McDonough is next scheduled to host Great Mills at 6 p.m. Friday.