After leading the James Wood High School girls’ soccer program back to familiar territory, Donavan Russell is The Winchester Star Girls’ Soccer Coach of the Year for the second time in three seasons.
Russell led James Wood to a 15-4-1 record and the Region 4D title, its second region title in three seasons. James Wood made its third state tournament in four years but lost 1-0 to Woodgrove in the Class 4 quarters.
The Colonels posted a solid 11-4-3 record in 2025, but James Wood was knocked out by Orange County in the Region 4D quarterfinals.
This year’s Colonels started 3-0, but then were shut out in their next four games and fell to 3-3-1. James Wood proceeded to rip off 12 wins in a row, including the first eight and 10 overall by shutout. The Colonels outscored foes 39-3 during the streak.
The ninth victory saw James Wood’s shutout streak end, but it went a long way toward sending the Colonels to the state tournament. James Wood beat Handley 2-1 for its first victory at the Judges’ James R. Wilkins Jr. Stadium since 2021. The victory clinched the top North seed in the Region 4D tournament and gave the Colonels a 4-1-1 record in Winchester/Frederick County games for ownership of the Dino Morgoglione Blue Ridge United Cup.
James Wood opened the postseason with a 2-0 win over Sherando at Shenandoah University in the Region 4D quarterfinals. The Colonels won their next two games at Kelican Stadium — a 3-2 win over Charlottesville in the semifinals and a 1-0 victory over Blacksburg in the final. Russell was named the Region 4D Coach of the Year as a result of the Region 4D title.
Senior forward Avery Wright (16 goals and 17 assists, Region 4D Player of the Year) and senior defender Meadow Falkner (three goals, two assists) each earned Virginia High School League Class 4 All-State First Team honors. Each of James Wood’s four seniors earned postseason recognition, with midfielder Kierny Prunty named First Team All-Region 4D and defender Reese Lessard selected Second Team All-Northwestern District.
Colonels goalkeeper Alaynah McGuire (school-record 13 shutouts in 20 games) and junior midfielder Aubrie Darnall were each named First Team All-Region 4D, junior forward DeLaney Newcome was named Second Team All-Region 4D and junior defender Karlie Orndorff was Second Team All-District.
Q. What qualities made this team special?
Russell: The player leadership. We had four seniors and four or five juniors with state tournament experience from 2024, some from 2023. There’s something to be said about players who understand what it takes to get to a certain level, and I think this team had that. They understood what they wanted to do, and they got there. That kind of understanding of we can do this, we know what it takes to get here, let’s get it done, really made this team special. That’s just the years of experience that they had.
Q. Which individuals impressed you or surprised you the most?
Russell: I don’t recall a season where I asked 10 of our starters to play pretty much every minute of every game. The starters were really incredible. Meadow Falkner has been a huge part of what we’ve done over the years. Her toughness on defense is absolutely incredible. She’s a very consistent player. You know exactly what you’re going to get out of her every game, and that’s important. In front of her, Aubrie Darnall really holding down that middle in the back for us was big. Stephanie Andrade Barco really came around this season and controlled that middle for us. She was tenacious in there, constantly winning back the ball. Reese and Karleigh on the outside were consistent. Avery and DeLaney working at the forward spot. Kierny did well in the midfield. It was really shocking how much our midfielders had to work this year, and do it without breaks. Alaynah at goalkeeper, just continuing to work on her craft, she got better and better. She was just so consistent and so solid making saves.
The young ones coming off the bench, the ones with no varsity experience before this year — Khloe Roman, Autumn Gilbert, [Adalyn Balwanz], Grace [Wilson] — they had to raise the level of their game in a short amount of time to earn playing time and help us compete, and they did that. Everyone on this team contributed.
Q. What do you consider the most memorable moments of the season?
Russell: Looking back at our skid that we had there — four games where we lost to Handley, tied Sherando, lost to Brentsville and really got clobbered by Kettle Run — we were sitting at 3-3-1 after that. The girls challenged themselves, and [assistant] coach [Shannyn] DeHaven and I challenged them. We rolled into the Fauquier game and it was kind of, ‘Well, here’s our season. What’s it going to look like? Are we going to struggle, or are we going to rise up?’ The girls rose up against a good Fauquier team and had a 3-0 win. It was a turning point for us in the season. I remember Shannyn and I talking about it and saying, ‘4-3-1 feels a lot better than 3-4-1.’ And then from there we had eight shutouts in a row, including that game, and the 12 wins is a row. The girls decided they still wanted to be the best team they could be. And it was player-driven. The team leaders decided this was the way they were going to do it, and they got things done.
It was a long, long time since we had won at Handley. That was really special, clinching the [North] one seed there and the Morgoglione Cup. And to come out and beat a really good Charlottesville team on DeLaney’s goal in overtime was fantastic. Then we beat a really good Blacksburg team for the region title, which was really special. It was wonderful to do it at home. I think it was a great tribute to those senior players who had a lot of good memories on that field.
So many good moments. It was really a fun team to be a part of. It was a team that believed in each other. It was a great season all around.
— Compiled by Robert Niedzwiecki