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(Enlarge) In three years, Phil Martinelli helped build the Marriotts Ridge boys soccer program from infancy to an unbeaten county record and a berth in the state semifinals. (staff photo by Matt Roth)

Phil Martinelli is, and will always be, a Mustang.

A four-year captain, three times while on varsity, Martinelli led Marriotts Ridge in scoring and was the face of the team each season he put on the uniform. He helped take a fledgling program from the bottom to the top in just three seasons.

But, the truth is, three years ago part of him wished the school in Marriottsville had never opened.

Martinelli, who watched from the stands as his brother, Justin, won a county, region and state championship, felt like he should have been a Viking.

"Part of me felt like I should have been out there, playing and getting to celebrate with all them," said Martinelli, a sophomore the year Mt. Hebron won the Class 3A crown. "I remember (in eighth grade) when we first heard that Marriotts Ridge was opening, I was trying to figure out ways I could go to Mt. Hebron and play with my brother.

"It's funny how things work out, though, because looking back I wouldn't change a thing. I think in a way, I was supposed to go to Marriotts Ridge and help this program make a name for itself."

As it turns out, Martinelli not only helped put the Mustangs on the map, but managed to also establish himself as one of the area's best along the way. Scoring 15 goals and dishing out 11 assists, the senior led Marriotts Ridge to an undefeated regular season, and county and region championships this fall before losing in the state semifinals.

In three years time as a varsity team, with Martinelli as its leader, Marriotts Ridge went from 2-8 in county play to 11-0.

"Few players ever get the opportunity to be 'the man' at a school for four years in any sport. He was one of them, though," Marriotts Ridge coach Kevin Flynn said of Martinelli, who has been named the Columbia Flier/Howard County Times boys soccer Player of the Year. "And the best thing of all, was that he knew he was the guy, but you would never know it. It was never about him. He got his goals and his assists, but Phil was just as happy to let other guys have the spotlight. He just wanted to win."

Martinelli played as a center midfielder as a junior, scoring seven goals to go with nine assists. This fall, Flynn wanted to get him even more involved in the attack, so he created somewhat of a flex position.

"I was kind of like a withdrawn striker," Martinelli said. "Coach pushed me up, but I was still there to help in the midfield ... almost like the best of both worlds."

The move was an instant success, with Martinelli scoring at least one goal in the team's first five games. As a team, Marriotts Ridge generated 17 goals during that early stretch.

Martinelli also saved some of his best efforts for the biggest games, including the three contests against River Hill. He helped the Mustangs win the midfield battle during a 3-1 victory in the regular season, scored the team's first goal in a 4-1 county championship win, and scored twice during the Mustangs' 4-0 victory over the Hawks in the 2A South region finals.

Also, in the only two games during the regular season that Marriotts Ridge won by a single goal, against Oakland Mills and Centennial, he managed to either score or register an assist.

"His intensity and mentality of refusing to lose was infectious," Flynn said. "Every time we needed a big play, Phil seemed to make something happen himself or did everything he could to get the ball to someone who could."

Next fall, Martinelli plans on becoming a Tiger and suiting up as a member of Towson University's squad that is two years removed from an appearance in the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16.

Named to the All-County first team are:

Josh Chelleh, Long Reach senior. The numbers only tell part of the story for Chelleh, who missed one game and portions of several others with a lingering injury. When he was on the field, though, the Lightning senior was awfully difficult for opposing teams to contain.

"His combination of touch and speed is something you just don't find too often at this level," said coach John Horner of Chelleh, who was also a first-team all-county player as a junior. "It was a shame that he wasn't really at 100 percent until the end there, because he makes us a completely different team and not even just as a scorer. His passing and field sense improved tremendously this season."

Chelleh's five assists, up from two last fall, are a testament to his overall improvement. He also added eight goals, including four in the final four games, to finish among the top 15 in the county in scoring for the third straight season.

John Earl, Reservoir senior. A position change from the midfield to forward made Earl a prime breakout candidate offensively this season, but no one could have expected the dominance displayed by the Gators' senior right from the get-go. Directly corresponding with a 4-0 start for Reservoir, Earl produced seven goals during that early stretch. As a junior, he had only scored twice.

"He came in with the attitude that he was going to make things happen and you could see that confidence growing with each game," coach Ivan Croft said. "When he got into that attacking third, it just seemed like good things always happened. He could cut and adjust so quickly to what the defenders were doing."

By season's end, he had scored a county-best 16 times and also picked up five assists. Additionally, his efforts helped Reservoir post its first-ever winning season both in county play and overall.

Jon Talbot, River Hill junior. After finishing as the county's top goal scorer as a junior (14 goals and seven assists), the expectations were through the roof for Talbot coming into the season. No one, however, could account for the injuries. A torn calf muscle cost him two games, a separated shoulder kept him out of one more, and he played most of the other games less than 100 percent.

"I just don't know if he was ever fully healthy," coach Matt Shagogue said. "Every time he seemed ready to get going, something else popped up. But you can't deny the kid's talent. He has that gear, that fearlessness, when he's going to goal that few players can match."

Talbot still managed 10 goals and four assists, which placed him among the top 10 scorers in the county. Among the highlights were two-goal games against Reservoir and Oakland Mills, along with the game-winner in overtime against Long Reach.

Brian Boring, Reservoir senior. A four-year varsity player, Boring served as a captain for the second straight year this fall for the Gators. His leadership, command of the field and passing ability as a central midfielder were major reasons behind the team's 12-5 record.

There was a versatility to his game, stemming from having played outside midfielder as a freshman and on defense as a sophomore and junior. Then this year, he added an offense presence to his arsenal and finished with four goals and five assists.

"He was one of the guys that helped the team shift their thinking and believe we could be one of the county's top teams," coach Ivan Croft said. "Brian does those things that don't always show up in the stat sheet, but make all the difference. For example, if there was a statistic for second assists, he would have led us in that category."

Aidan Hoolachan, Mt. Hebron junior. Hoolachan literally played every position on the field for the Vikings except for goalie this season, but seemed to settle into a central midfield role for a Mt. Hebron team that finished with a 7-3-1 mark in county play. His natural defensive abilities, combined with the speed and instincts needed to play up top allowed him to serve as a great transition player.

"The idea with Aidan was to solidify our defense, but also being able to attack out of the back," coach Mike Linsenmeyer said. "He's a tireless worker and is right up there in terms of his fitness with anyone I've ever coached."

Hoolachan, who played a key role on Mt. Hebron's state championship team as a freshman, had offensive highlights this fall that included one of the team's two goals in a 2-2 tie against River Hill and a goal in the team's 3-0 victory over Reservoir.

Garrett Nickles, Mt. Hebron senior. A first-team member for the second straight year, Nickles excelled as a marked man this season. Teams game-planned for him, yet he still found ways to sway the game in favor of the Vikings. Another player that coach Mike Linsenmeyer liked to move around in order to maximize his impact, Nickles proved to be most dangerous when he was pushed into the attack.

He matched his total of seven goals from last season and exceeded his assist total by three, with 10. He was one of only three county public school players to register double-digit assists.

"In college, he'll probably be a defensive central midfielder or defender, but in high school he was so athletically gifted that he was able to really overwhelm teams up top," Linsenmeyer said of Nickles, who will play for Duquesne next season.

Jake Pace, River Hill senior. Pace came into this fall as the reigning Player of the Year and had already committed to play for the University of Maryland, this year's NCAA Division I national champions, so to say that the expectations for his senior year were high would be an understatement. "He had an incredibly tough act to follow, all those accolades and having already led us to a state title," coach Matt Shagogue said. "I think the expectations were almost too high. But the one thing about Jake is that you can never accuse him of not working hard. He loves practicing and training and, on the field, he was everything we could ask for in the middle."

Physically bigger and stronger than his opponents, there were few better in the air this season than Pace. Those 50/50 balls were his specialty. And when he pushed up into the attack, he knew how to get the ball in the net. He finished with eight goals and 10 assists, only one point fewer than his junior season.

Matt Seinfeld, Wilde Lake senior. Seinfeld wasn't asked to do a whole lot of scoring this season, although he still managed to find the net five times and pick up four assists, and instead was faced with the task of managing the game and making those around him better. According to coach Matt Pickett, no one was more valuable to the Wildecats run to a 11-5 record.

"He dictated the pace of play and has that vision and mental capacity to think two or three passes ahead," Pickett said. "We scored 17 goals this season off the run of play and almost every one of them Matt had a hand in, one way or another. He has those intangibles that don't show up in a box score."

Seinfeld, who will play for VMI next season, excelled despite being hampered by hamstring problems from the middle of the year on. He registered a goal or an assist in three of the Wildecats' final four games.

Pat Sullivan, Marriotts Ridge sophomore. The Mustangs already had one of the best one-two offensive punches in the county with Phil Martinelli and Josh Stover, so the emergence of Sullivan was simply too much for opposing defenses to handle. He made his presence known early in the year with eight goals in a stretch of five games, punctuated by two of the scores in a 3-1 win over River Hill on Oct. 7, and never slowed down.

"I went and saw him play for his club team and saw the potential if we moved him forward in the midfield, but I don't think anyone realized just how good a finisher he was," coach Kevin Flynn said. "He really didn't even get that many chances. It was just that he was downright deadly around the goal when the ball found his foot."

Sullivan finished with 13 goals and six assists, giving the Mustangs three players with at least 13 goals. His performances in the big games is also worth noting, as he had five goals and three assists in the games against River Hill and another two scores against Reservoir.

Nick Koutrelakos, Marriotts Ridge junior. A ruptured spleen ended Koutrelakos' season early as a sophomore, but he wasted little time establishing himself as one of the county's best in the back this fall. A starter at sweeper since he was a freshman, Koutrelakos is a vocal guy who's great in the air and plays hard from beginning to end, according to coach Kevin Flynn.

"Once he got knocked down a few times early on and realized he was going to be OK, he was absolutely dominant," Flynn said. "His timing and leaping ability make him one of the top two players in the air in the county, in my opinion, right up there Jake (Pace) at River Hill.

And he has great instincts, which was key considering we pushed a lot of guys forward and were sometimes vulnerable to the counterattack."

Opposing teams managed an average of only 4.5 shots on goal a game against Marriotts Ridge, something that Koutrelakos played a major role in.

Corey Krewson, River Hill junior. A great one-on-one defender who was able to clean up any mistakes in the back, Krewson filled the big shoes left by the graduation of all-county defender J.T. Bowers. He also helped smooth the transition of a freshman in goal for the Hawks, leading the way to nine shutouts on the season, including five in a row in the middle of the year.

The truth is, however, that Krewson was capable of playing anywhere on the field. His offensive abilities were on display when he scored the only River Hill goal in the first meeting with Marriotts Ridge, and, according to Hawks' coach Matt Shagogue, will see more time in the midfield next season.

"Corey is actually a more natural forward, but he said, 'coach I'll do whatever you need.' That's the kind of kid he is," Shagogue said. "He's so valuable because he does so many things well."

Paul Killian, Marriotts Ridge senior. Coach Kevin Flynn says that Killian made his biggest impact when he wasn't even making saves. "He was like having a coach out there, keeping the defense organized and positioning everyone so that the other team would never even get a shot off," Flynn said. "Him taking charge on balls in the air was huge too. He almost single-handedly shut down opponents set-piece plays."

When he was called upon to make stops, Killian had a flair for the dramatic. Lunging stops in the first half of games against Oakland Mills and River Hill were among the highlights. He finished with 66 saves and allowed 10 goals, three of which came on penalty kicks. He also guided the Marriotts Ridge defense to eight shutouts.

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