Under legendary coach Hussein Issa, Bromfield girls' soccer builds on recent success

Success has seemed to follow high school coaching legend Hussein Issa wherever he goes, and after helping extend the Millbury High girls’ run of success — which included two trips to the Division 4 state final and a state championship in 2019 — he decided to take on a new challenge this season as coach of the Bromfield girls’ soccer team.

The Trojans have been knocking on the door of the type of success the Bromfield boys have experienced in recent years, making it to the CMADA Division 3 final and MIAA Division 5 state quarterfinals in 2021, losing both times to D5 state champion Sutton.

Issa said he caught some of the latter game, as it was played at Millbury High and his Woolies were set to play afterward and came away impressed with the team.

“It’s always Sutton,” said Issa, who led the Suzies to state title in 2001 and ’04. “I was telling them, when it comes to Bromfield and Sutton, you’ve got to get over the hump.”

Issa said he has fond memories of his five years at Millbury and “couldn’t have asked for a better situation,” but the Trojans’ later start times — most of their games begin at 4 p.m. or later — fit better with his work schedule, while there also was an allure to building a program into a champion rather than maintaining a top program’s status.

“I know the town (Harvard) a little bit, but it’s funny, you only know one side of the coin,” Issa said. “The boys’ program and the girls’ program are very close to each other, but they have been on different paths. The boys have the tradition of winning, and that’s what we’re trying to build on the girls’ side… creating it for the first time is very difficult.”

“They do have a good soccer program,” he added. “We’re not starting from scratch.”

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This isn’t Issa’s first coaching stop at Bromfield, as he previously served as the JV boys’ coach for a few seasons under former coach Tom Hill roughly a decade ago.

“I know the community a little bit and Tom is always a friend,” Issa said.

Along with catching one of the Trojans’ playoff games, Issa also made it a point to see one of the school’s girls’ lacrosse games in the spring, as many of those players are multi-sport athletes who also play soccer in the fall.

Bromfield graduated several stars from the 2021 team that went 13-4-3, such as key field players Abby Baker, Tallie Dutkewych, Katie Iacomini and Peyton VanDorpe, along with standout goalkeeper Annabel Ashe.

However, Issa is bullish on this year’s team, despite only having three seniors.

“I think the term rebuilding is overused sometimes. It gives people an excuse,” Issa said. “We’re focused on this year, and we know what needs to be done.”

The team’s captains are all defensive-minded players, as senior Julia Kimball is the team’s top center back, while classmate Rachel Wharton can play defense or midfield. Another senior, Jaden Doher, has taken quickly to a leadership role as the new goalie.

“She solidifies the back and solves a lot of problems,” Issa said of Kimball. “She’s a tough kid, but she’s also a sweetheart. Julia is the backbone.”

Meanwhile, many of the team’s skill players are juniors, including returning starters Allison Corrieri and Ana Lora, both midfielders, and forward Kennedy Dylewicz.

“I don’t know how she does it, she can shield and tackle without fouling people, and you can’t teach that,” Issa said of Corrieri, whom he has been impressed with early on.

Midfielder Tilly Fitzgibbons, just a sophomore, is also a returning starter, while several players in the freshman class already have made impacts, highlighted by talented youngers Ashlyn Mara, Joanna Juliano and Sabine Moran.

“We’ve got a lot of kids coming up,” Issa said. “They like the system, they feel comfortable with it, and now it’s a matter of putting it together.”

Rather than rebuilding, the Trojans are simply looking to build on their recent success, starting the season with five straight road games and only losing once, in a competitive game against Mid-Wach B side North Middlesex, as they sit at 5-1 six games in. Bromfield also picked up a road win over the same stretch against Groton-Dunstable.

The smallest school in Mid-Wach C, the Trojans are 4-0 in league play, and have big games remaining against Mid-Wach A squads Algonquin and Nashoba.

“The hardest part of coaching is the human element, the X's and O's are the easy part,” Issa said. “We really have a good team, and they want to work hard, and they are listening well. They want change and they told me that.”

—Contact Carl Setterlund at sports@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @tgsports.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Under coach Hussein Issa, Bromfield girls' soccer is building on recent success