From MSI roots to state-stage heights, this team proves culture wins games.

For the Bethesda Chevy Chase High School (BCC) girls’ soccer team, this season hasn’t just been about a deep playoff run, where they are gearing up to compete in the Maryland 4A Girls Soccer State Championship against Perry Hall High School. It’s been about a group of players who chose to lean into each other, respond to adversity, and turn a shared goal into something bigger than themselves.

Their head coach, a longtime member of the MSI coaching community, Travis Woodruff, describes the journey not through a single highlight but as a collection of moments that have defined who this team is.

From the earliest training sessions to the pressure of the state playoffs, the players have embraced a simple daily standard: work hard, enjoy the moment, and keep pushing for the next step. Practices have been lively and intense, with teammates challenging one another at a high level and then carrying that same energy into games. Rather than pointing to one decisive play or dramatic goal, Coach Travis talks about “the whole playoff run” and, in truth, “the whole season” as something he’ll carry with him.

What makes this group stand out is not just talent, but connection. The players love being around one another, and it shows in all the little details. Training sessions feel competitive but joyful. The bench is often louder than the stands, with substitutes fully engaged, cheering, and urging on their teammates. It is a group that responds to coaching, understands when it is time to lock in, and refuses to back down when things get hard.

As the team has marched deeper into the playoffs and into the state final, two messages have driven everything they do.

The first is a mantra repeated daily: “The job is not finished.” From the very beginning of the season, the goal hasn’t been to simply reach the state final; it has been to win a state championship. Training sessions, pregame talks, and halftime messages are all anchored in that mindset. Reaching this stage is a milestone, but it isn’t the destination. The second message is just as important: enjoy the moment. In the intensity of a playoff run, it can be easy to get lost in nerves and pressure. This team has found a way to balance focus with joy.

Coach Travis's approach with this team has been shaped heavily by his long relationship with MSI. For nearly 15 years, he has coached in MSI’s Rec, Classic, and Travel programs. Many of his current players came up through MSI themselves, and at least one or two are still involved today.

They share an understanding of MSI’s culture: there is a place for everyone, effort matters, and soccer is about both development and enjoyment. That sense of “family” has carried over into the high school environment. The team stands up for each other, works hard together, and embraces the idea that they’re part of something supportive and bigger than any single player.

Coach Travis describes MSI as one of the most supportive coaching environments he has experienced. That support extends beyond his own team. Other coaches in the MSI community, including some who now coach opposing high school teams, have reached out to encourage and celebrate this playoff run. It feels less like isolated programs and more like a shared soccer community rooting for one of its own.

Beyond the final score of the state championship game, Coach Travis hopes that his players carry away a lasting sense of achievement and belonging. He often reminds the seniors that they are doing something that players before them never got to experience. Previous classes didn’t make a playoff run like this. That alone makes this season special.

The team has a level of ownership, passion, and connection that can define more than any scoreboard could. Whether they lift the trophy or not, they have built something they’ll remember for years: a season where they believed in each other, represented their school and community with pride, and proved, to themselves and everyone watching, that they were part of something truly special. And until that final whistle in the state championship game, their message remains the same: enjoy the moment. The job isn’t finished.