Old Saybrook boys soccer coach Steve Waters gets his 566th win, tops in the state
Steve Waters still remembers coaching his first boys soccer game. It was a loss to E.O. Smith and its long-time coach John Blomstrann.
Blomstrann, who is retired, was the winningest high school boys soccer coach in the state with 565 wins - until Friday when Waters passed him to take the lead with 566 victories after his Old Saybrook team beat East Hampton 3-1.
“It’s like … apropos, you know?” Waters said. “John and I were great friends for many years.”
Cam DeAngelo scored twice for Old Saybrook and Kevin DeCapua had the first goal in the season opener for the Shoreline Conference teams. The teams were supposed to play Thursday but the game was rained out.
Waters, 63, coached for 36 years at Farmington, where he won 557 games and nine state titles. He retired in 2018 then came back to Old Saybrook, where he had been an assistant in his second year of coaching. He’s been the Rams’ head coach for two years.
“I never thought I’d be here,” Waters said. “I thought 3-5 years at Farmington and I’d move on, but I just got the bug for high school soccer. It’s been fun. This is the 709th game I’ve coached and I haven’t missed one.”
The milestone was set to take place last fall during the COVID-shortened season. Old Saybrook was facing East Hampton. But the Rams lost 2-1 in overtime to end the season. So they had to wait a whole year for the next game.
Waters was pretty matter-of-fact about the whole thing afterward. Asked how he was going to celebrate, he had to think a minute, then he said, “Probably drive home and go out to dinner.”
The fans brought a banner and the players had a shirt made for Waters that read “566 career wins” on the back. They had to tape over the date and re-write it a few times because they had the shirt made last year.
“It’s awesome,” Old Saybrook senior captain Nick Rothman said. “I’m glad we got it out of the way in the first game so we don’t have to worry about it later in the season. It’s obviously historic and we’re all super happy to be part of it.”
Lori Riley can be reached at lriley@courant.com.
