By Alex Frazier
As Souderton soccer coach Tom Quintois said, “The award was long overdue.”Central Bucks East’s Mike Gorni has been named Coach of the Year by the Pennsylvania State Soccer Coaches Association.
And there’s probably not a coach or player in the Suburban One League—even all of District One—who would refute that.
“He’s a professional coach,” said Quintois. “It’s an honor to be his friend and talk soccer with him because he has a lot of knowledge.”
Gorni has long had a reputation as an outstanding coach, both at the club and high school levels, yet this is the first time in the 17 years the award has been given that he has been honored.
“He’s one of the best coaches I’ve ever had,” said all-state and all-American East midfielder Sean Peckham. “I’ve learned a lot from him over the past four years. It seems we always find a way to win with him as our coach.”
The Patriots finished their season 19-4-1. Gorni took them to the state quarterfinals a year ago and to the state semifinals this year, where Peters Township once again ended their season.
Although this year’s Patriots made it as far as any other East team, the players were disappointed they didn’t get into the championship game. And even more upset that Gorni didn’t.
“I was disappointed we didn’t make it to the state finals,” said sweeper Michael Whittaker, a University of Pittsburgh recruit. “We definitely had the talent. It was tough walking away knowing that we weren’t the group of seniors that he won a state championship with. We didn’t have the chance to prove to him that we were the best C.B. East team.”
For Whittaker it was the end of a four-year run with Gorni.
“It’s hard to explain how good of a coach he is unless you’re playing for him,” he said. “You don’t realize until it’s over that you’re not going to have that good of a coach for the rest of your life.”
That Gorni received the award over state champion Downingtown West coach John Hatt is even further tribute to his prowess.
“Look at his record over the years, always in the playoffs,” said Central Bucks South coach Don Brady. “He’s done very well with the C.B. East program.”
Brady has known Gorni since the two competed against each other in club ball as well as high school. The relationship was up close and personal since Brady was a goalkeeper for Don Bosco and William Tennent, while Gorni played forward for Roslyn and Abington.
“You were always worried about him scoring goals, that’s for sure,” said Brady.
Gorni’s success comes in part from his knowing the competition and preparing his team for it.
“He knows a lot about a lot of teams. He probably knows the C.B. teams the best,” said Brady. “He’ll make sure he sees you three or four times before you even play. He’s always very prepared. That’s true of the whole season. He has his teams very organized in the back.”
Gorni’s teams are known for tough defense and their ability to score on re-starts.
“Michael always finds a way of getting his players to play better than they are,” said Quintois. “He creates a system that is extremely simple yet is very complex.”
That system led the Patriots to 19 shutouts last year and 16 this year.
“Last year in pre-season we focused primarily on defense first because a lot of high school soccer is focusing on not letting up goals because it’s harder to score in high school soccer, so if you let up a goal it could determine the game,” said Whittaker. “That definitely helped out.”
With nine returning starters, including the entire defense, Gorni stressed this year that teams would not look past the Patriots.
“His big thing this year was that we were going to be the hunted,” said Whittaker. “We were going to get every team’s best game; we knew that each game we would have to bring our ‘A’ game if we wanted to win games. He reiterated that each game.”
On the one hand, it is interesting that Gorni’s teams are so strong on defense when he played forward himself.
“There’s that phenomenon where great forwards growing up become very good defenders,” said Brady. “Some of your best players in the area become great defenders later on in life. I can’t explain that.”
Set plays are also the Patriots’ forte.
“We practice a bunch on offenses and defenses,” said Peckham. “In high school soccer, it’s pretty hard to score because most defenses are good, so we pride ourselves on being organized on set pieces.”
Gorni also prods his players. His intensity is apparent if you’ve ever stood on the sidelines listening to him direct the team.
“He’s real demanding of his players,” said Peckham. “He knows we’re pretty good, so he expects a lot out of us. I’ve learned a lot the past four years playing for him.”
Gorni is, above all, a good salesman.
“He’s a mental strategist with his own players,” said Quintois. “He’s able to get these kids to believe in playing his system. He’s an X and O guy. He’s intensely driven. It’s very difficult to beat his teams.”
It’s often easy to get teams up for tough games, but maybe not so easy against mediocre teams that could take advantage of a lackadaisical team.
A case in point was the two games East played against Souderton this year. The Patriots won both by slim 1-0 scores, one in overtime.
“It’s hard for C.B. East to get up for Souderton, but Michael manages to get those kids up, and they beat us, and that’s not easy,” said Quintois. “It’s a privilege to coach against him, and every time I do and I watch his team, I learn something because he’s a master.”
“I’ve had a lot of coaches over the years, and he’s the best I’ve had,” said Whittaker. “He knows so much about the game, and he’s so good at teaching it to high school soccer players. He coaches a lot of levels—ODP, Delco—but high school players are a lot different. It’s harder to coach high school soccer because you never know what you’re going to get over the years. He finds a way to win games.”
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