BEDFORD, NH – Once upon a time, they were among the best youth soccer players in the Granite State and eventually became two of its best coaches. This weekend, they will meet in a new chapter in their respective stories that could have significant implications for the postseason.
Manchester West alumnus Michelle Winning has played soccer with (and against) Megan Young since seventh grade in varsity matches and Olympic Development Program appearances. Now, Winning and Young are the girls’ soccer coaches at Bedford and Exeter High Schools, respectively.
Until this week, both teams were undefeated, but Bedford suffered a 1-0 road loss to Portsmouth on Tuesday night, leaving Exeter as the sole unbeaten team left in Division I, with Bedford joining Bishop Guertin, Salem and Timberlane with just one loss and Portsmouth with just two as of Wednesday night.
While Saturday’s contest might have had a little more luster if both teams had managed to stay undefeated heading into Saturday, Winning believes any one of those top-six teams could be champions this fall as things stand right now. So does Young.
“The final couple of rounds of the playoffs are going to be very interesting, it’s going to depend on the day,” said Winning.
“I think the division has had the most parity that it’s had in a long time,” said Young. “You see some of the familiar faces, but you’re also seeing upsets. On any given day, anyone can win.”
Last fall, Winning’s Bulldogs defeated Young’s Blue Hawks for the state title and both squads are once again atop the NHIAA Division I standings and Exeter heads to Bedford on Saturday in a rematch of that contest.
If the two do meet again in the State Championship, it would be the fifth time they have met as coaches of their respective teams since 2012, with each having won two state titles each against each other.
Winning has been the head girls’ soccer coach at Bedford since it became a high school in 2007 after Bedford stopped sending students to West. Before that, she had some time coaching in Concord and at West prior to that as well as a junior varsity coach under New Hampshire soccer legend Jack Amero at West.
Winning was also a player for Amero during his 29-year tenure at West where he racked up 417 wins and 16 state titles, where she would play Young, then a player for Exeter. Winning also still remembers when Young and Exeter broke West’s 63-game winning streak when she was a junior, the 10th longest ever in U.S. high school soccer history as of 2018.
“Exeter vs. West was always a great game, it was always a game that we got up for, it was always physical and well coached, and it feels very much like today between Exeter and Bedford, honestly,” said Winning.
“We’ve definitely built a good rivalry over the years, we always seem to be in big games against each other,” said Young. “It seems like we’re always right up there when we meet on the field, it’s exciting.”
Despite their rivalry, the two talk almost daily about their players and the sport as a whole in a cooperative relationship, seeking to better one another as soccer coaches (excluding when they play each other, of course).
“We help each other to be successful on the field,” said Winning. “We bounce ideas off each other to some extent, we scout together, we talk about other teams and our friendship takes a front seat and then we put it away when we have to put it away in order to compete.”
After the two square off on Saturday, both teams’ regular seasons will continue until Oct. 19.
