It wasn’t an altogether unfamiliar feeling.

As the Bow boys soccer players sat under their own net, heads hung after a 2-1 season-opening loss on Friday, Aug. 29, to Pembroke Academy, their coach, George Pinkham, stood over them and explained how some of his best squads from the past had overcome early adversity.

Only a few years earlier, he noted, when the Falcons moved up to Class I, they lost their first game of the season to Pelham, a team they dominated annually in Class M.

Yet Bow fell only once thereafter and finished second in the standings.

Prior to starting the soccer program at Bow 11 years ago, Pinkham spent 11 years at Concord. His best season there, he said, came after the Crimson Tide were blown out in their first three contests. They didn’t suffer another setback in the regular season.

So when one of his current players pointed out Bow still has 15 games to play, Pinkham was quick to correct the young man.

“No. We’ve got 15 plus,” he said.

The Falcons, after all, have never missed the postseason, and Pinkham said the expectations are no different this year, despite losing 13 players to graduation – including several all-staters and one all-New Englander – from a team that finished 2007 as runner- up in Class I.

Despite returning just one starter from last season, the team name on the front of the jerseys paints a bull’s-eye on the backs.

“We’ve been in the top four every year since we’ve been in I … Just about every game, going in last year, I expected to win by three or four goals,” said Pinkham. “This year, this team, like tonight, it’s going to be one-goal games, and we’re going to have to fight for everything we get. Nobody is going to look past us.”

Sean Dippold, who started at outside defender the second half of 2007, moves to center midfield this season.

The rest of the players, most of whom played JV last year or only saw action when the team was up several goals, are learning on the fly.

Ian Verderame and Mike Neves captain this year’s squad. Junior Nick Nolin, who scored Bow’s first goal of 2008, and Ian Cascadden, who assisted on the tally, are expected to see plenty of playing time.

Junior goalie Carter Bennett, who turned away several quality PA offerings before allowing two late scores, didn’t play in net until two years ago.

He’s expected to mature into the role as the season progresses, said Pinkham.

Others contributing are Josh Faber, Jake Jensen, Will Stuart, Tyler Blais, James Miller, Ian Kervick- Jimenez, Chris Roberts, Kyle Zaczyk, Ian Kipperman, Greg Wnuk, Tyler Couture, Ted Wyly, Josh Faber, Bryan Barker, Jacob Bull, Eddie Berke, Ethan Johnson, Alex Davies, Josh Serard and Alex Rizzi.