by Perri Williams ‘23

Senior Alex Moore(7) takes a shot at Sherwood’s varsity girls soccer game against Good Counsel  Photo by Sherwood Athletics

Sherwood‘s boys and girls soccer teams started their seasons playing tough out of conference and out of county competitors. The opponent: Good Counsel, located 2.1 miles from Sherwood just down the road on Route 108.  The Warriors rose to the occasion against the intimidating competition, with the boys tying 1-1 and the girls losing 2-1 in a nail-biter.  Field hockey will play the Falcons this week on October 4.

Good Counsel is an athletic powerhouse, winning 71 Washington Catholic Athletic Conference titles in just the past decade. This year Good Counsel‘s girls’ soccer team is ranked second in the Washington Post’s Soccer Preseason Top 10, the boy’s soccer team as an honorable mention. Field hockey is ranked eighth in the top 10 teams in the area. Who thought it would be a good idea for Sherwood teams to add Good Counsel to the schedule?

“The reason we play them in sports sometimes is because we have openings we have to fill, and they are openings they have to fill. And we’re right down the street,” explained Athletic Director Jason Woodward.

The number of out of county games depends on the sport, and soccer and field hockey are allowed to schedule one such game. Woodward named three factors that help him decide on the out-of-conference opponents: geography, winning percentage, and coaches’ preferred opponents.

Sherwood soccer and field hockey are the only teams that compete against Good Counsel in regular-season games and there is no sign that will change anytime soon, according to Woodward. Out of county games do count toward overall standings in playoffs and state playoff seedings but do not impact the division championship. As an opponent, Good Counsel checks a lot of boxes, including that a lot of the student-athletes from the two schools know each other.

“We may lose the game, we may win the game, we may tie the game but we play those to get better competitively to prepare us for the playoffs,” said Woodward.