Greg O'Brien has been named the new West Orange girls soccer head coach after serving as an assistant coach for the West Orange Orange boys soccer team last year. (Photo Courtesy of Greg O'Brien)
WEST ORANGE — It’s no secret that West Orange is a soccer town.
The boys and girls programs at West Orange High School certainly have built strong traditions of success.
On the girls’ side, the torch has been passed. Greg O’Brien, who joined the WOHS boys program as an assistant coach last year, when the Mountaineers finished No. 2 in the state and No. 8 in the nation, has moved over to become the head coach for the WOHS girls team.
O’Brien, who grew up and coached in Union County, is thrilled to be in West Orange.
“West Orange is a phenomenal town,” he said. “I fell in love with it from teaching and coaching (in West Orange).”
O’Brien takes over for Sean Devore, who guided the Mountaineers to several conference, county and state sectional titles for the past 11 seasons.
O’Brien has an extensive background. Overall, he has been a full-time coach for 15 years.
After graduating from Westfield HS in 2008, O’Brien played Division 1 soccer at UConn. Following graduation, O’Brien attended Kean University to obtain his teaching degree and was an assistant coach there.
O’Brien returned to Westfield and was an assistant coach for the girls team for three years. He then was a JV boys coach at Brearley HS in Kenilworth for another three years.
In 2021, O’Brien became the interim head coach of the Brearley girls team, filling in for the coach who was on maternity leave.
He came back to Westfield again as a teacher and an assistant coach for the boys soccer team for three years. Last year, O’Brien took a teaching job at West Orange and served as an assistant coach for Doug Nevins on the boys squad that capped the season with the Group 4 state championship.
O’Brien knows the history of the girls program that enjoyed enormous success under Devore. The girls reached the Essex County Tournament final in four straight years from 2021-24, winning back-to-back titles in 2021-22. They also were North 1, Group 4 state sectional champs in 2018 for their first and only sectional title, before finishing with a 19-1-2 record, after going unbeaten at 13-0-5 the previous year, when they were eliminated in penalty-kick shootouts in the county semifinals and sectional quarterfinals.
“The history really speaks for itself,” O’Brien said. “Sean did a phenomenal job, especially right after COVID. The girls program is a really great program.”
The Mountaineers, who had a down year last season with a 3-8-4 record, lost several players to graduation, but the talent is there with this year’s squad.
“The current girls that we have, there’s a lot of talent, a lot of potential. It’s really a nice group of players,” O’Brien said.
Make no mistake, the program wants to continue to compete for championships and O’Brien wants to foster that championship mentality.
“I want to build on the legacy,” said O’Brien, noting that the team assistant coaches are back this year. “This is a program that has had a lot of success. Championships are what we are going to aspire to. Every year, we want to be in position to compete for as many championships as we can; you got the conference, county, section and state. I told the girls that we are a program that can realistically compete for a championship every single season.
“There is a lot of energy and I’m hoping for the best. There’s a lot of talent. There is no reason that we can’t expect to win.”
West Orange will have two preseason scrimmages, both on the road, against Northern Highlands in Allendale on Monday, Aug. 25, at 11 a.m. and against Cranford on Saturday, Aug. 29, at 9 a.m., before opening the regular season on Wednesday, Sept. 2, against Wayne Hills at home in a non-conference game.
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