(upbeat music) - Anybody still in this room, you have to love the program and you have to love the game.

- [Jason] It's part motivation, part strategy.

- We gotta figure out what the other team is playing, and where they might expose us, and then where we can expose them.

- [Jason] Ardrey Kell High School women's soccer coach, Kim Montgomery, preps her team for the season opener.

- Our success, it really comes from everybody in this room.

- [James] Helping them through the butterflies and nervous anticipation.

- First game back out here, right?

Feels kind of surreal for some of us.

- [Jason] For Kim, it's the start of the next chapter in a lifetime spent in the sport she loves.

Growing up in New Jersey, Kim Yankowski, as she was known back then, routinely played soccer with the boys on the streets of her neighborhood.

- Every single two v. two ended up in a fight between the boys.

But that's what really made me tough and made me love the game.

- [Jason] As a high school freshman, Kim scored four goals in a state championship victory.

She then took her talents to North Carolina State on a full-ride scholarship.

- I was really fast and I was fearless.

- [Jason] Her career didn't end after college.

She was then drafted to play professionally in the WUSA for the Carolina Courage.

- And hearing my name called, and it can still bring me to tears.

- [Announcer] The Carolina Courage from worst to first, to win the Founders Cup!

- [Jason] Two years later, more tears of joy, as Carolina won the league's championship.

See number 11?

That's Kim jumping on top of the celebratory pile.

- Best job I could ever ask for.

If I could still be playing to this day, I'd be playing to this day.

(upbeat music) - [Jason] And along the way, she met future husband, John.

- We met on a blind date.

- [Jason] Who put together a couple of impressive scrapbooks, filled with pictures and newspaper clippings, of all of Kim's on-field accomplishments.

- And I thought to myself, "This would be a pretty fun Christmas present."

- [Jason] While John was a fan of Kim's, he couldn't say the same about the game she played.

- And I didn't know anything about soccer, nothing.

- [Jason] But John did know football.

Playing at Duke, he was part of the Blue Devil's improbable 1989 ACC Championship Team.

- [Announcer] Brown, deep for Hines!

He might have another one!

Touchdown, Duke!

- [Jason] Coached by a young up-and-comer named Steve Spurrier.

- That was my junior year, 1989.

And it just kind of came about out of nowhere.

I don't think any of us realized the historical significance of Duke winning a ACC, I mean, you wanted to win, you wanted to win games.

- [Jason] Together, John and Kim, had two daughters, Carly and Maddie.

Introducing them to sports was a no-brainer.

- Well, my mom probably put a ball on my foot the day I could walk.

- And I remember picking them up and having them, carrying them and kicking a ball.

- I just remember being put in, like, five different sports at a time.

- Flag football, basketball, soccer.

- Swim, and basketball, and volleyball, and tee-ball, and just tennis.

- They were gonna make my sister and I play sports even if we liked them or not.

- We're big believers, as parents, of just let 'em find something they're interested in.

- We're just sport people.

It's all that's on on our TV.

We're not afraid to spend money on tickets for sporting events.

We'll do our grocery shopping where it's cheap, but we'll spend money on tickets for games.

- [Jason] When Kim's playing days came to an end... - Keep moving, you guys, interchange!

- [Jason] Going into coaching, you only seemed natural.

Turns out, she's just as I intense of a coach as she was a player.

- And what do I not want you to do?

- Cutting inside.

- Cutting inside to all those players that are in there to your right foot when you're left footed.

I love to play, I love to compete, and I love to win.

- [Jason] Two years ago, in the spring of '22, Ardrey Kell reached the state finals only to lose in heartbreaking fashion on penalty kicks.

It was the fourth time AK lost a state championship game.

- We were so good and we were supposed to win, and we didn't.

- It was gut-wrenching.

- We were heartbroken.

- [Jason] A year later, in 2023, with Carly now a senior and Maddie a junior, AK worked its way back through the state tournament, with Maddie scoring a game-winning goal to keep the Knights' season alive.

(crowd cheering) - And that was just one of the best moments, and I'm never gonna forget it.

- We're so grateful that we have a second shot.

- [Jason] They made it back to the state finals, this time cashing in.

- [Team] Yeah!

- It was the best experience.

- It was the most incredible moment of my life.

- You know how important it is for your whole family, and to feel responsible for such happiness and joy for so many people.

(gentle upbeat music) - [Jason] Supporting his girls all along the way, husband/dad, John, known to all as Monty, who now knows a thing or two about the game.

- It was an amazing season to be a part of.

- Dad is the biggest supporter of them all.

He calls himself the GM, the general manager of everything, 'cause that's his role he likes.

But, I mean, he would get so stressed during high school games he would drive around the parking lot, 'cause all his girls were out there, so he got too nervous.

- He's always been the best and the biggest supporter, and our number one fan.

- [Jason] This season, things are a little bit different.

- Get yourselves ready and let's get out there, go.

- [Jason] Carly is now playing at the University of Texas where she was named to the All Big 12 Conference Freshman Team.

- [Announcer] Carly Montgomery, the freshman, will get her first collegiate goal.

- [Jason] Helping the Longhorns win the conference crown.

- Go, Maddie!

- [Jason] Maddie is now a senior stepping into the leadership role left behind by big sis.

- But now it's my sister's time to shine.

- Maddie, you gotta get up!

Maddie, you gotta get up!

- [Jason] And Kim is now in her 14th season coaching at AK.

- And so now it's about building what we're gonna do, what legacy is this team, is the 2024 team gonna leave behind?

I have learned over the years that harmony and culture wins games, and brings memories, and brings championships.

- AK on three!

- One, two, three, AK!

(team claps) - You look now and you think, "Oh, we're a little bit older now," but what a journey, what a journey.