Burbank hosted Burroughs and came away with a hard-fought 3-2 victory. (Photo by Xavier Dubon)
By Rick Assad
Two goals within one minute apart in the opening half was the perfect springboard that the Burbank High boys’ soccer team needed to defeat visiting Burroughs on Thursday afternoon at Kemp-Kallem Field.
The Bulldogs edged the Bears 3-2 in a Pacific League match behind a pair of tallies from junior striker Eric Mkrtchyan and two assists thrown in from junior midfielder/forward Joseph Chavez.
The goals came in the 38th minute that tied it at 1-1 and in the 39th minute for a 2-1 advantage.
The Bears (5-7-2 and 1-5-1 in league) led 1-0 on a tally in the 13th minute and also scored in the 77th minute.
Senior midfielder/forward Raymond Soukiazian also found the back of the net in the 45th minute for the Bulldogs (4-7-3 and 1-3-3 in league) that made it 3-1.
Soukiazian had a kick in the 67th minute that came very close to being a goal but it hit the top of the bar.
Johnny Rotunno is Burbank’s head coach and was extremely pleased with the triumph.
The Bears scored early and led 1-0 but allowed three goals and fell by one tally. (Photo by Xavier Dubon)
“This was a strong effort today. We stayed focused after going down 1-0,” he said. “Our team responded with some great goals to secure the win at home.”
Junior defender Grigor Parian started it off with a kick in the seventh minute for Burbank and the Bulldogs added a kick in the next minute and the ninth minute.
Senior midfielder/defender Victor Chtryan added a boot for the Bulldogs in the 10th minute for Burbank.
Teammate sophomore defender Aram Hovanessian had one in the 11th minute and the Bulldogs had another kick in the 11th minute.
Junior midfielder/forward/defender Haroot Akopyan tossed in a kick in the 14th and 17th minute for Burbank.
Senior striker Seven Elkin had a kick in the 18th minute for the Bears and Burbank answered with a kick from junior midfielder/forward Samvel Khachatryan chimed in with an attempt in the 20th minute for the Bulldogs.
Mark Martinez is the Burroughs head coach and was pleased despite the loss.
“I think we played well for the most part. Unfortunately the score tells a different story,” he said. “They had three or four opportunities (shots on target) and scored three. Our discipline dropped and they managed to score with 10 minutes on the clock.”
The Bears had three straight kicks and they came in the 24th minute and the 33rd minute by Elkin and by sophomore striker/forward Justin Trigo in the 36th minute. Elkin had a kick in the extra time in the opening half.
Elkin opened the second half with a kick in the 41st minute and Burbank answered in the 44th minute.
Sophomore midfielder Ian Major had a long free kick in the 54th minute for the Bears and Elkin had an attempt in the 55th minute.
Hovanessian had back-to-back kicks and they came in the 56th and 62nd minute and Mkrtchyan had one in the 65th minute.
Khachatryan had a header in the 68th minute and sophomore goalie Joseph Kaufman had a kick in the 80th minute for the Bears.
Allie Coyle became the first women to lead a boys soccer team to a Maryland state title. Now, she prepares Blair High School to defend its standing.
From saving on school supplies to the impact of federal cuts, the WTOP team is studying up on hot-button topics in education across the D.C. region. Follow on air and online in our series, “WTOP Goes Back to School” this August and September.
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Md. boys’ soccer coach ready for new season after team’s historic state title win
A light drizzle fell at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Maryland, as Allie Coyle marched the sidelines watching the boys’ soccer team play in an intersquad scrimmage. At the time, the 31-year-old stood silently, observing her players’ movements, passing and defending.
Yet, once a mistake is made, like crowding passing lanes or standing offsides, Coyle stepped on the field and demanded answers. If she shouted, it was a directive or advice.
“Hey, use your left,” she yelled at a striker. “I like it!”
Last year, Coyle made history, becoming the first women to lead a boys soccer team to a Maryland state title when the Blazers defeated Richard Montgomery 1-0 to become 4A champions.
Entering her fourth season in charge of Blair’s varsity team, Coyle told WTOP the weight of that victory has fueled her team’s drive to win its second consecutive title.
‘Can you coach us?’
Coyle never envisioned herself coaching boys soccer. She played high school soccer at River Hill High School in Howard County and was coaching Blair’s girls soccer junior variety squad. One evening, multiple boys players participating in a Montgomery County Recreation program for high-risk youth called Soccer4Change needed a coach and turned to their science teacher for help.
“The boys needed a coach, and so I had them in class, and they kept seeing me at the girls JV team,” she said. “They’re like, ‘Can you coach us?’”
That pull to boys soccer continued when Coyle became Blair’s JV boys coach. In 2022, she took over the varsity program, and in that first season, the Blazers made it to the state semifinals.
“They’re just awesome kids, and they sucked me in,” Coyle said. “They got me in as their coach, and then I couldn’t leave them, and then, it just led all the way to the boys varsity team.”
Yet, there were challenges. Early on, some parents questioned Coyle’s decision-making on cutting certain players. Coyle recalled speaking to Blair’s former boys soccer coach, who said they questioned her because, “You’re young and you’re female.”
When times got hard, Coyle leaned on a support group of coaches and athletic director Rita Boule, who coached boys soccer in the past.
Blair’s players also stood by Coyle. During one game, a rival coach referred to Coyle as “lady” the entire match. After the Blazers won, the team’s student-run Instagram account posted the final score with “Lady” as its caption as a measure of revenge.
Senior midfielder Jorge Mejia said he doesn’t see the difference in the way Coyle approaches the sport compared to previous male coaches. Instead, he said Coyle set boundaries for the players to build chemistry among each other and is harder on them about their grades.
“She’s a really good coach,” senior midfielder Lyon Alvarez said. “People doubt her just because she’s a female, but when it comes to conditioning, tactics in game, subs, she has like a discipline and everything. … She knows what she can do.”
Championship statement
The 2024 season was a culminating year for the Blair boys soccer program. Many of its seniors had been with Coyle since her JV days, anchoring the Blazers to a 17-3-4 record. After losing to Walt Whitman 4-1 in the regular season, Blair bounced back with a 3-1 victory in the state semifinals.
The night before the state title game, Coyle recalled one of her senior players told her that she could become the first woman to win a state title coaching boys soccer.
“I just kind of blew it off,” she said.
However, when a reporter asked her about it, Coyle attempted to look it up. Once confirmed, she attempted to block it out of her mind, even on game day.
Once the final whistle blew in the Maryland 4A championship, winning Blair’s first boys soccer state title since 1975, Coyle was speechless. After the game, she received so many emails and texts of congratulations, she elected to leave her phone in her car for the night to give herself time to take in the moment.
The Montgomery Blair High School boys’ soccer team won the Maryland state 4A title in 2024.
(Courtesy Tino Pham/Montgomery Blair High School )
Courtesy Tino Pham/Montgomery Blair High School
Allie Coyle looks on during training at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Maryland.
(WTOP/José Umaña)
WTOP/José Umaña
A Montgomery Blair High School boy’s soccer player speaks to head coach Allie Coyle during training in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Montgomery Blair High School’s Allie Coyle observes training in Leesburg, Virginia.
(Courtesy Washington Spirit )
Courtesy Washington Spirit
Montgomery Blair High School boys’ soccer coach Allie Coyle participated in the Washington Spirit’s coaching mentorship program.
(Courtesy Breanna Biorato/Washington Spirit)
Courtesy Breanna Biorato/Washington Spirit
Montgomery Blair High School’s boys’ soccer team participate in training in Silver Spring, Maryland.
(WTOP/José Umaña)
WTOP/José Umaña
“I’m not someone who necessarily likes the spotlight,” she said. “I want it on my team and my players. I would not have gotten there if it wasn’t for them.”
The attention came from all angles: local media outlets covered the historic moment, while ESPN dedicated a social media post on the achievement. Coaches from Coyle’s youth reached out to express their support, too.
“They reached out saying how much it meant to their daughters,” she said. “I think it meant the most from all of it is knowing that actual people did find impact from it.”
RaShauna Hamilton, the Spirit’s vice president of fan growth and community, told WTOP in a statement the program aims to create opportunities for female coaches through access to on-field training sessions, interactive lectures with the coaching staff and an online master class on using technology and analytics to develop players.
“Allie has been an impressive coaching mentee throughout her time in the program and is a great representative of what we want this program to be,” Hamilton said.
The mentorship program was the final accolade Coyle needed to celebrate the championship success. As the summer break ended, her focus shifted to meet the standards she set for the Blazers program. She said athletic director Boule as well as her players and their families, helped remind her that to win another title, the team will need to be built up again.
“We knew what we had going into that season,” Coyle said. “We knew it was going to be our chance, and so we pushed harder than we’ve ever pushed to make sure that it all paid off.”
Preparing for the 2025 season
Thirteen players from last year’s title-winning side are returning for the 2025 season, seven of whom are seniors. They will be joined by 14 new players who have never played on Blair’s varsity team.
Some new players are getting accustomed to Coyle’s direct approach, which involves speaking to them in straightforward terms while encouraging them to work harder in training. At the same time, she allows her captains to run the drills, and during scrimmages, players can pick the positions that best suit them.
That balance of being a disciplinarian while finding a player’s strength is essential in team building, Coyle said.
“I want them to push themselves as hard as they can so that they see the hard work paying off if they do it over and over,” she said. “I think that’s a bigger life lesson — is hard work will pay off.”
Almost a year removed from the historic victory, Coyle said there is pressure to repeat last year’s success. She also understands her accomplishment will serve as a catalyst for others who want to coach in male sports.
One piece of advice she offers to any woman looking to make the leap is to have a support system that can keep you grounded and focused on the task at hand.
“It’s a lot of pressure on my shoulders, and not a lot of the pressure that I can really control,” she said. “You can say and teach them as much as you want, but really, at some point it’s got to be: How bad do they want it, also? I think this team might want it. We’ll see.”
Blair opens regular season play on Sept. 8 on the road at Clarksburg and at Blake on Sept. 10. The Blazers will finally play their first home match on Sept. 15 against county rivals Wheaton.
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Louie Binda has led an entirely interesting life and is now fully retired and rooting for the Angels, his favorite Major League Baseball team, while enjoying the fruits of his labor.
Binda has worked for the Internal Revenue Service beginning in December 1969 and has coached for multiple decades, working with the girls’ soccer and softball teams at Burroughs High.
If that wasn’t enough, Binda, a longtime Burbank resident was also a longtime teacher and was a successful Parks and Recreation men’s fastpitch softball coach and also coached softball, baseball, AYSO soccer and club soccer.
“I became a coach in September of 1969 [Parks and Rec]. My late wife and I had just been asked to become high school youth counselors for our church youth group. The coach of our men’s church basketball team had been drafted (Vietnam) and we had no coach,” he explained. “In addition, the youth group had six boys, along with some older adults, who also wanted to play. We had too many players, so we made two teams. Most of the guys on the men’s team were better than I was so I played with the youth (B) team and coached both teams.”
Binda, who graduated from Valley State College, now Cal State University Northridge with a degree in Business Administration and an option in accounting, added: “It was hard to coach guys on the men’s (A) team that I had known and played with for years, but the guys were pretty good about it,” he said. “I must have done something right because both teams won their division. Prior to this I had never even considered becoming a coach.”
Binda, who began teaching in the Burbank Adult School in 1972 and ended that portion of his career in 1990, referenced a turning point in his coaching career.
Louie Binda threw out the ceremonial first pitch of the Burbank versus Burroughs softball game at Olive Park to commemorate his retirement. (Photo by Xavier Dubon)
“In 2008, I was ordered to take over the girls’ soccer team just past the middle of the season. I did not want the job because I felt the coach (who I knew) should not have been fired. At that time I was coaching the boys’ freshman team, and I did not want to give that up,” he recalled. “I later found out that the team was in sixth place (out of eight teams), had lost their first game in the second round, and had their two best players out for the rest of the league season. The team had not been to the playoffs in 15 years and had never won a playoff game.”
Binda, who began his tenure as a substitute teacher in 2006 after retiring from the IRS, added: “I got the team to finish in fourth place, qualifying for the playoffs, and we won our first playoff game before we were eliminated. In 2011, I coached the girls’ junior varsity softball team to a 20-0 record. When I was given the team, the varsity coach told me that we would be lucky to win one game that year,” he noted. “We beat three teams that year giving them their only loss. Burbank High had only two losses, both to us, and we beat both of their varsity pitchers. Quite an accomplishment for a team that wasn’t supposed to win a game.”
Being on the field and seeing players improve has been rewarding for Binda, who assisted Mike Kodama as the Burroughs boys’ varsity soccer coach beginning in 1995 and later helped out the freshmen and junior varsity squads and was head coach Brady Riggs’ assistant for the girls’ varsity until 2024.
“I enjoy working with the players, the administrative staff at Burroughs, and 99 percent of the parents are terrific to work with,” he said. “I especially enjoy watching the players work hard to get better, work as a team and then see the results on the field. I love watching the players improve and seeing their confidence soar as they see their hard work pay off.”
Coaches and players need to be resilient and willing to listen to each other, according to Binda.
“Players learn that when you fail you have to get right back up and work harder,” he said. “That by working together as a team, you can accomplish so much more than you ever could as an individual. This applies to the field, the classroom, and especially in life.”
Binda, who was the first-ever Burroughs girls’ soccer coach in 1989, wanted to win just as much as the next guy, but he also wanted players to enjoy what they were doing.
“My philosophy for both are the same – make the students/players winners in life. So many of the lessons we teach and learn on the athletic field apply to what we do in the classroom and in life,” he said. “Work hard to get better. If you make a mistake, learn from it and correct it. When you get knocked down, and you will, get up and work harder.”
Athletes are the same regardless of the year or time, noted Binda.
“The athletes are similar, but the students who are not out for sports are quite different. For instance, before the Internet, all the kids could play baseball, football, and basketball in elementary school. Now, physical education teachers are teaching students how to play these sports in high school,” he said. “In 1961 when I tried out for the “B” football team we had 120 kids try out, and the school had a student body of approximately 1,200 students. Now with a student body of more than double the 2,400 students (2,600-2,800), the varsity football team gets less than half of 120 students trying out, and there is no “B” football. In the end, kids are kids, and I really enjoyed working with them in both the classroom and on the field.”
Binda’s coaching philosophy is sound and proven.
“I feel that patience and good communication skills are critical. Listen to what your players tell you. Communication is a two-way street. Game knowledge is important but not as important as patience and communication skills,” he explained. “You need the respect of your players to be successful, and respect is earned. Every coach has their own way of doing things, so I feel that there is no one way to do things. Be honest with your players. Don’t try to be something you are not.”
UCLA’s John Wooden built a dynasty on the Westwood campus as his basketball teams won 10 NCAA championships in 12 seasons beginning in 1964 and running through 1975 and the Indiana native was quick to note that coaching and teaching are one and the same.
“I totally agree with John Wooden. When I was recruited to become a manager with the Treasury Department the primary reason was because I was already a successful instructor with the Treasury and I was teaching in the Burbank Adult School,” Binda said. “We are telling students/players what we want done and how to do it. You cannot do this without good teaching skills.”
Being successful on the field and on the court isn’t just about skill, although it’s important. It’s really a combination of things.
“Working with players who have talent, but refuse to put in 100 percent effort to improve and instead rely on their athletic ability, eventually they will reach a level where everyone is just as good or better than that player, but because they do not have a work rate, they will not be as successful as they hoped or fail,” Binda said. “This is especially true in life.”
Binda continued his thought: “As a teacher/coach, you have to realize that you are doing the best that you can, and that no matter how good you are or how hard you try, you cannot reach everyone,” he pointed out. “Dealing with some parents can be very frustrating. But as an IRS/adult school teacher/instructor, a soccer referee (for 20 years) and an IRS agent, there is very little that you can say to me that I have not heard before.”
Binda’s advice for teachers and coaches is simple.
“Be honest with your players and be patient,” he said. “Be yourself.”
