Bill Cappo calls it a coaching career at Archbishop Wood girls soccer
Longtime Archbishop Wood girls soccer coach Bill Cappo, left, celebrates his 300th coaching victory with his Lady Vikings during the fall 2016 campaign. (COURTESY AW GIRLS SOCCER — 21ST-CENTURY MEDIA)
WARMINSTER – As hard as it may be for some to believe, Archbishop Wood girls soccer coach Bill Cappo decided to wrap up his coaching career with the Lady Vikings at the end of the season.
Only the third coach that the Wood girls have ever had, Cappo, 70, was the longest-tenured coach for the Vikings. The Voorhees, New Jersey resident took the reins of the program from former coach Dick McCafferty in 1994, guiding Wood to the Philadelphia Catholic League (PCL) championship the very next year.
In all, Cappo would guide seven teams to PCL championships including this year’s team, which toppled Lansdale Catholic 2-1 in overtime for the crown.
Cappo finished his coaching career with the Lady Vikes with a record of 311-109-39. When asked the reason for his coaching success, Cappo uttered two words – the players.
“You can be the best coach in the world and if you don’t have the players, you’re not going to get it done,” Cappo said.
“I was fortunate to get into a good program.
“My job was to get the right people together in the right positions and have them believe in a system and come out and play with enthusiasm every game.”
Cappo guided the Lady Vikings to Catholic League crowns in three of his first six seasons on York Road. The first two came with the help of goalkeeper Emily Oleksiuk, who went on to have a stellar career at Penn State.
“She was probably the best goalkeeper in the Catholic League – the best goalkeeper I’ve ever seen in my 23 years. I can say when she played she was the best keeper for the boys and the girls in the Catholic League.”
At Penn State, Oleksiuk, who hails from Willow Grove, finished a four-year career with the Nittany Lions as the NCAA’s all-time career leader in goalkeeper minutes played (8,853). A three-time NSCAA First Team All-American, she was named the Big 10 Conference’s top goalkeeper for four straight years. She holds Penn State career records for saves (416), shutouts (43.75), and wins (81) along with single-season school records for saves (132 in 1998), shutouts (15.4 in 2000), fewest goals allowed (10 in 2000), and goals against average (0.405 in 2000).
More recently, AW goalkeeper Deanna Messner anchored a Vikings defense that secured three consecutive PCL crowns from 2009 to 2011. A player who began her college career at Kutztown, Messner played in 17 of the Rams 18 games this season, making 16 starts. Ironically, Messner is also from Willow Grove.
Central midfielder Christine Verrell was also a key player who helped Cappo and the Wood team win three straight PCL crowns. From Abington, Verrell played basketball for Dowling College for three years before switching back to soccer her senior campaign. Verrell is listed as the Most Outstanding Player in the 2013 East Coast Conference (ECC) women’s basketball championship.
Perhaps the best offensive player Cappo coached was Kelsey Celine, who tallied 89 goals in three campaigns for Wood from 2009 to 2011. Celine went on to play collegiate soccer at LaSalle from 2012 to 2014.
Kelly Lair, Sarah Lindenmuth, Tracy Spinelli and Michelle Biehl were among some of the other standouts that Cappo coached at AW. A Southampton resident who played at Villanova, Biehl was listed as one of the nation’s top college defenders in 2004, and was the first player in Wildcat women’s soccer history named All-American in consecutive seasons (2002-03).
Another top defender guided by Cappo was Hunter Filippo, a redshirt senior at LaSalle who hails from Buckingham. Along with Rachel Friend (Shippensburg), a forward from Southampton who notched the game-winning goal in the PCL championship, Filippo was a key cog in what was perhaps one of the best seasons for the Lady Vikings in 2010.
That was the year that Wood went 23-2, losing only its first game to West Chester East and its last to eventual state champion Peters Township. To get to the PIAA-AAA title tilt, the Vikes toppled Pennridge 4-2 in PKs in the state quarterfinals and Conestoga 3-2 in double overtime in the PIAA quarterfinals.
Cappo led Wood back to the PIAA championship one more time in 2012, that time in Class AA. Led by Catholic League MVP Jackie Pearson, the Vikes outpaced Villa Jo Marie in overtime then toppled Saucon Valley and Northern York in regulation only to fall 1-0 to Moon Area in the PIAA title tilt.
Ironically, Wood didn’t get off to a good this year, dropping its first two games including a loss to St. Hubert’s and losing four of its first seven. Four league wins in a row followed over Conwell-Egan, Bishop McDevitt, Archbishop Ryan and Cardinal O’Hara when the team got trounced 4-1 by Lansdale Catholic.
Cappo says that was the tipping point for the season. At 7-6 overall, 6-2 in the PCL, the Vikes resolved to win out the remainder of the way. Aside from 3-3 late-season tie with Gwynedd-Mercy and a loss to Fleetwood in a PIAA opener, Wood very nearly did just that.
“We should thank Lansdale Catholic. When they beat us 4-1, we sat down and talked and that’s when it all changed,” said Cappo.
“They realized they were a good enough team to go all the way. They just had to play the system that we wanted to do and they did. They fought hard and came together after that game and played well.”
Wood finished the regular season with wins over Archbishop Carroll, Hallahan, and Little Flower. Tabbed with the No. 3 seed in the PCL Tournament, the Vikings blanked No. 6 seed Archbishop Carroll 2-0, turned the tables on No. 2 Saint Hubert’s in a 3-1 triumph then finished the tourney off with a comeback win over top seed Lansdale Catholic.
In the PCL title win, Sophie Filippo headed in a corner kick from Kylie Menarde for the game-winner in overtime. For Filippo, it was her 17th goal of the season and 63rd of her career. She scored twice more in an 11-0 rout of Benjamin Rush, helping Wood to its seventh straight District 12 championship.
Seven district titles, seven PCL crowns, and a 70th birthday for the coach in 2016 – it was all adding up to impending retirement, said Cappo.
“I’m getting up in the years and the commute from Jersey was starting to get to me. It’s time – I’ve been there 23 years. I’m 70 years old and I had a good run. I figured it was time – time to spend some time with my wife and family.”
“I was thinking before the end of this season that this was going to be my last year. Fortunately, we went out on top.”
In the PIAA-AAA tournament opener against Fleetwood, Lauren Ruth gave the Vikings a 1-0 lead they thought might hold until Sydney Lobb and Rebekah Earnest each scored in the final 10 minutes, lifting the Tigers to a 2-1 triumph that ended Cappo’s final campaign as Wood’s coach.
NOTES: AW is still in search of a new girls soccer coach though longtime assistant Dan Finello could be the next in line for the position. Finello has been with the program for 17 years, three of which were at the varsity level. Sophie Filippo is headed to St. Joseph’s University on a soccer scholarship.
Contact Steve Sherman at ssherman@21st-Centurymedia.com or @BucksLocalSport on Twitter
