High school boys soccer: Brice to replace Cappello as Jacobs coach

The Jacobs boys soccer team has won three consecutive regional titles and back-to-back sectional titles, and Colin Brice hopes to continue that winning tradition.

Brice, a 2007 Jacobs grad, will take over as Golden Eagles boys soccer coach next fall. Brice served as the Prairie Ridge boys soccer coach for the past two seasons and is in his second year as the Hampshire girls soccer coach during the spring.

He takes over for A.J. Cappello, who coached the Jacobs boys team for the past eight seasons.

“It’s really exciting,” Brice said. “I didn’t think this opportunity would happen. I’m glad that it did and I think it was a good move for myself.

“The biggest thing with Jacobs is their support of athletics is huge, their support from staff and students, parents, coaches. I think it will be really cool to steer that program and keep it in the direction it’s heading.”

Over the past two seasons, Jacobs won a combined 32 games and finished one win short of the state semifinals each year. Cappello was the Northwest Herald Boys Soccer Coach of the Year each of the past two seasons, and senior forward Noah Melick, who heads to Wisconsin next fall, was the Northwest Herald Boys Soccer Player of the Year both years.

Cappello could not be reached for comment regarding his departure.

“We really appreciate everything he did for the boys soccer program and girls before that,” Jacobs athletic director Joe Benoit said. “(He was a) pleasure to work with. We’re excited to have Colin come back home and take over the program.”

Brice works as a physical education teacher at Algonquin Middle School.

He played 3 1/2 years of varsity soccer while at Jacobs. He went on to play soccer at the University of Dubuque, where he later served as an assistant coach for two years.

Brice’s Prairie Ridge teams went 23-14-2 in two seasons, including an 18-3 campaign in 2017.

“My experience at Prairie Ridge was fantastic between coaching the players, the staff, the school,” Brice said. “It was great. I thought it was a great opportunity to take over the program that I grew up playing in.”

• Northwest Herald senior sports writer Joe Stevenson contributed to this report.