Varsity Q&A: Harford Tech coach Mike Dempsey previews Class 1A state final, what it will take to beat Allegany

Nov. 17—When Harford Tech seniors Aiden Hall and Xavier Gasida both went down with season-ending injuries this summer, it left the Cobras with a 20-plus goal sized vacancy.

Coach Mike Dempsey had to shuffle some players around and tinker with formations early in the fall.

But his team's revival has come on the shoulders of guys like senior forward Brendan Coldiron, its leading scorer; senior defender Demayne Trotter, who scored the winner in the state semifinal; and sophomore defender Jack Priebe, a former academy program player in his first season taking the field for Harford Tech.

Dempsey's squad now sits one game away from securing Harford Tech's first boys soccer state title. The sixth-seeded Cobras will face a daunting No. 1 Allegany at 2:30 p.m. Saturday from Loyola University. Dempsey recently spoke with The Aegis to preview the Class 1A state final. (Editor's note: some questions and answers have been lightly edited for clarity):

You said at the start of the season that you felt like this team had the juice to make a run at both the regional and state championships. I'm curious what you saw back then that gave you the confidence to get this far?

We've been very fortunate. We have a lot of younger players that have been with me for a couple years now and their development was probably the biggest thing that I saw. And then looking at the opportunities throughout the county and also into states, I knew just from the solid players that we had that we were gonna have an opportunity to do something special this year. But you need a lot of things to go your way during the season, of course.

Brendan Coldiron had 13 goals and 12 assists this season. What does he bring to your team that maybe doesn't show up on the scoreboard?

I mean, for him, I think he's had to learn to play that position. He used to be a wide player for us, more like a winger. With Aiden Hall being out we had to transition him there and I think it took a little bit of time to get comfortable with that. But he does a tremendous job of holding up plays for us, especially when working out of the back to allow our attacking players to get forward. And he's done a really good job of being unselfish. Just finding players and his overall ability on the ball, he has really good ball skills. Moves the ball pretty quickly. His ability to transition from defense to offense has really been one of the keys to his success and our success in general.

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What do you think are the defining characteristics of your team's style of play and how has that evolved from the start of the season?

We have some really technically sound players on the field. So one of the things that we do really well is we move the ball around the field pretty quickly. That's probably one of the biggest things. And when we do that, and we are successful with doing that, then we tend to have a lot more success. I would say technically sound players, smart players, knowing where they're supposed to be at the right times has probably been the biggest thing for us.

And they've continued to get better and better as we tweaked things a little bit throughout the year. They have tremendous amount of heart, too, they just never give up. You gotta love kids willing to fight until the very last whistle.

Do you think your team has had a signature win or defining moment this year?

I would say probably a defining moment was beating Eastern Tech, ranked 12th in the state. We played them on their homecoming night at Essex Community College. It was a raucous crowd, to say the least. I mean their student section was pretty intense. Not in a bad way, that's just the way it is. And I think that environment and just kind of seeing the kids and how they reacted to that, and being down, 4-3 on their home field and at their homecoming. I think once we did that, I think the boys were like, "We can pretty much play with anybody."

What does Harford Tech need to do to beat Allegany on Saturday?

It's gonna be a tall task. They have a tremendous group in the back. They're very quick. Their wings are tremendously fast and execute very well. They pass the ball just like we do, they're very technically sound. So I'm looking for a game that is going to really come down to who can possess the ball, who can move it and who takes advantage of their opportunities. The team that does that is the team that's going to come out on top. We know that we have a tall task in front of us. But you know, we've played some pretty good teams in the county and we're going to be ready and we're going to do everything we can to bring home Harford Tech's first state title.