By Michael Letendre
On November 2 of this past year, the Bristol Central girls soccer team posted a tremendous 2-0 victory over rival Bristol Eastern – a huge triumph for the Rams’ program.
Central won its fifth contest of the season that night but was unable to qualify for postseason play and it ended up being the swan song for long time Central coach Ginny Godbout.
Godbout, who was obviously emotional after her final win, always gave it her all as a mentor to the program and was tremendous in putting together a winning culture and a successful team followed.
“Bristol Central Girls Soccer Head Coach Ginny Godbout officially retired in October after coaching in the program for twenty years,” according to Bristol Central’s Twitter account. “Her countless hours spent on and off the field, her love of the game, her dedication and admiration of the girls, and her presence will truly be missed.”
Godbout had a tough act to follow but carried the same fight and abilities as former mentors Tony Carrier and Scott Redman did – both tremendous coaches for the girls soccer program at Bristol Central before she took over the team.
Godbout was no stranger to the program, assisting the team for several years along with – over the seasons – Tom Moylan, Larry Covino, Nate Jandreau, Leigh Michaud, and Redman among several other dedicated individuals.
After the 2015 campaign, Godbout took over the program as Redman took over for the retiring Roland Loranger in the fall of 2016.
And Godbout enjoyed a solid half-a-dozen year run at Central.
She had to navigate through some tough times over years with the global pandemic gumming up the works in the fall of 2020.
Godbout helped to shape the career of standouts like Adalia Malick and when Central took the field, the program was always a competitive bunch no matter the opponent.
In 2017, the Rams were back in the playoffs off a 7-8-1 regular season ledger as the team was systematically improving its ledger by the year.
Then in 2018, Central won another half-dozen games and earned a 25th ranking in the Class L field.
The program helped Godbout earn her first postseason victory over a 13-0 first round upset against No. 8 Bullard Havens.
And finally in 2019, Central defeated Eastern by a 1-0 push back on October 7 as Bella Bosco tallied the game-winning goal – giving the program its first win over the Kingstreeters in quite some time.
The Rams were 8-6-3 that season, Godbout’s fourth campaign as head coach, dropping a first round decision in Class L postseason play to No. 16 Brookfield 2-1 via penalty kicks.
Central was a credible 6-6-2 in the COVID-19 campaign of 2020 and finished last season just out of the Class LL tournament field at 5-10-1 overall.
But the program competed to the end last year, and off a tough six game losing streak, Central was able to win its final contest – that huge 2-0 triumph over Eastern.
“They saved it all for tonight,” said Godbout after the 2-0 win over the Lancers, her final match as head coach.
The Rams had struggled to defeat the Lancers on Alumni Field over the years but to snare that milestone win to end her scholastic career was certainly a big moment for Godbout and the BCHS girls soccer program.
“Coming into [the BC/BE match] it was really hard because we knew that we weren’t going to qualify for the state tournament,” said Godbout after that victorious effort. “So for us, literally before the game, I just said to the girls ‘just go out there and play, play for each other and play for Bristol Central and leave it all on the field.’”
“And that’s exactly what they did…to win here, it’s pretty sweet.”
But going forward this fall, the team is going to be in fairly familiar hands despite Godbout not patrolling the sidelines and yelling at the referees.
Last year’s assistant coaches, Vicki Malick and Juan Quintero, have been vital in Central’s success over the years and the duo will be returning in 2022.
It might be a different voice at the helm for the Rams this time around, but the team will be in tremendous hands with the Malick/Quintero duo leading the charge as the season will be commencing in September.
“Coach Vicki Malick will be stepping up as the new Head Coach with Coach Juan Quintero moving to the Varsity assistant/Freshman Coach,” said the Twitter feed. “Both coaches are very excited with their new roles and cannot wait to get the season started. Go Rams!”
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