Q&A with Lisle Soccer Coach Paul Kohorn

Paul Kohorn started the boys and girls soccer programs eight years ago. Since then, the success achieved by both programs has been nothing short of spectacular—culminating with an historic 2010 season in which both teams advanced to the Class 1A state tournament.

The boys, of course, won the , while the girls finished fourth.

During last season’s run to the Class 1A title, Kohorn announced to his team that the 2010 season would be his last with them. Later this fall, the veteran coach—who all told has won 171 games between the two programs—will begin his duties as an assistant coach with the Aurora University women’s team. However, Kohorn will continue to coach the Lisle girls squad this season and in 2012.

The also led both teams to the sectional finals once prior to last year. The boys team has won two Interstate Eight crowns during Kohorn’s tenure along with three second-place finishes. Meanwhile, the girls team has registered two seconds and two thirds in I-8 play.

Kohorn sat down with Lisle Patch before the start of the 2011 girls season last week and talked about the move to Aurora University, staying on to coach the Lisle girls team, some of his favorite teams and how he thinks the girls will fare this season.

Lisle Patch: How did getting the assistant coach’s position at Aurora University come about?

Kohorn: As I got towards the end of last year, I started thinking about where I wanted to go. I felt that I’ve taken this program pretty far. Is there something left? The obvious choice was, “Let’s see if we can take it to college.” I actually went and talked to Kanute Drugan, the coach at Aurora. He and I had a real nice conversation, and at the end of it, the next thing I know he asked me if I was interested in being an assistant with him. And I said absolutely.

Patch: What do you expect is going to be different coaching at the college level as opposed to the high school level?

Kohorn: There’s a lot more to it. In high school, it’s pretty much you’ve got practices, you’ve got games. You’ve got to deal with a little bit of a budget; not a whole lot. You have who you have (in high school). College, you’ve got recruiting, you’ve got a budget that you have to handle, and you have to handle your schedule. You do a lot of traveling because you’ve got to go out recruiting. Recruiting is going to be part of my training. Kanute and I talked about that. At the end of the fall season, I’ll get involved with him in recruiting, and I’ll learn that rope. I’ve got a pretty good coaching network around here already, and we’ll build on that.

Patch: Even though you’re going to be coaching at Aurora, you’ve got to be happy continuing to be involved with the Lisle soccer program as the girls coach.

Kohorn: Yes, it was certainly my goal to stay as long as I could. We had a great year last year and I think we’re going to have a better year this year. We’ve got a really good group and I’m pretty excited about our season.

Patch: What was the reaction of the boys team to you not coming back?

Kohorn: There’s been a lot of talk and a lot of people that have asked me to reconsider. And quite frankly, I had made the decision and was doing a lot of waffling in November and December, but I had a nice conversation with Kanute again, making sure that our plans were solid and they are. I still think, “Am I doing the right thing?” because we’re only losing one senior starter so they’re going to have a pretty good experienced team coming back (this fall).

Patch: When did everything with Aurora University become finalized?

Kohorn: About the beginning of (last) October, and I didn’t tell the team of it until the Peotone game, which was the regional championship. I think we were down and we weren’t playing a particularly good game. I basically told them that I basically didn’t want this to be my last game at Lisle. And they all kind of looked at me funny, except for Grant Fitzgerald, our captain, who I had told earlier. He and I decided that I would use it at a halftime if we thought we needed it at halftime (as a motivator). We used it and outscored them in the second half and won so it was a pretty effective halftime.

Patch: Did the boys team’s run to the state title come as a pleasant surprise to you? It seemed as if there were times the team had difficulty getting motivated.

Kohorn: A large part of (the team’s turnaround) I can attribute to Grant Fitzgerald. Grant was my captain for three years; we were on the same page. He and I had a conversation; we both knew where we wanted to go and do. We sat the team down and said, “What are your goals? Are you just out here?” That happened many times. There were a lot of turning points during the season, but once we got to the playoffs, everyone’s attitudes kind of changed; they got more serious. And we got more focused than we did all season long. Anyone who was willing to listen, I told them that this team wouldn’t surprise me if we lost in the first round; this team wouldn’t surprise me if we won the whole thing. I knew we had the talent to win it. It was a matter of did we have the attitude and the desire to win it.

Patch: What are a couple of differences between coaching girls and boys at the high school level?

Kohorn: Some of the obvious things: The girls’ game is a little slower, but it’s more together as a team. The guys want to do a little bit more showing off, one-on-one. The guys game is a little bit up in the air more because they’re stronger players with headers out of the air and their kicks for the most part are more stronger. But quite frankly, as much as I’ve enjoyed coaching the boys—it was a great run with them—I enjoy coaching the girls because the girls like to be part of the team; they like to be together on it. I just see them working harder and becoming a group than what the guys do.

Patch: Who are a couple of your favorite teams over the years, boys and girls?

Kohorn: Both teams the very first season were good teams. The very first boys team, we won the first three games of the season. Everyone just opened up their eyes and said, “Well maybe this soccer isn’t that hard to do.” Then we won only one more the rest of the year! But that group was a lot of fun. When that group matured, we won our first conference championship team with that team. We made it to the sectional finals, beating some teams that we weren’t supposed to beat. The girls team (in 2008), we went to the sectional finals and we unfortunately lost 2-1 to Immaculate Conception. That team sticks out. We had Nicole (Urban)’s sister, Sara, as one of the captains and we had a very good, experienced team. We were so strong, and Immaculate Conception, to their credit, played a real good game. That was probably the hardest loss we’ve ever had at the school because we were really expected to go. And obviously, you can’t say enough about last year’s girls team and boys team. You take a fourth in state with the girls; you take a first in state with the boys. You can’t ask for anything else.

Patch: How is this year’s team shaping up? You’re coming off a year when you placed fourth in the state.

Kohorn: Last year we took third in conference so we want to improve on that. I think we’re one of the teams to beat in conference. I have confidence that we can get to that sectional final game and there we’ll take our chances. If we get to state, I think we can improve on what we did last year. We’ve got Nicole Urban, the leading scorer in the history of the school, 101 goals after three years. She’s really the base of the team. Skyler Tomko has just gotten leaps and bounds better. We’ve got Vanessa Roach in goal; as a freshman she helped the team to fourth in the state and never played the position before. Lexi Britton at wing, she’s been starting at that wing, this is her fourth year starting there. She’s really improved tremendously so I’m really excited to see that part of her game improve. I have high hopes, and I think we’re going to do pretty good.