By Kyle LoJacono
First-year Steinbrenner girls soccer coach Robert Woodard is a bit in awe when he looks out at the talent on his team.
“It’s scary,” Woodard said watching the Warriors warm up before their first practice of the season. “I’m used to a team having three or four talented people and a bunch of hard-working players. This is top to bottom talent here. There were a lot of girls we had to cut who would be easily playing for other schools. It’s phenomenal and they have great attitudes too.”
Woodard isn’t talking about a team with decades of history behind it. Steinbrenner (3-2) won the Class 4A state championship last season in the just the program’s second year of existence. It took junior forward Alexis Bredeau some time before that reality sank in.
“It went by really fast and we didn’t expect it to happen,” Bredeau said. “It wasn’t a shock, but it was more like did that really just happen. When I started watching it on TV over and over again it finally sunk in.
“I haven’t been able to wait for the season to start,” Bredeau continued. “Now that it’s here — I just can’t put it into words.”
The Warriors went 21-2-2 en route to winning the state title, defeating Merritt Island 2-1 in overtime in the final game.
“I had the opportunity to watch the state championship game about five times and broken it down, and I’ve shared it with friends I have in the coaching fraternity and they’re just amazed,” Woodard said. “Their approach to the game is very professional and the way they go about playing, a lot of them are already mentally ready to play at the next level.”
Woodard steps in for Teresa Patterson, who coached the Warriors since the school opened in 2009 but resigned the post early this year to start her family.
Steinbrenner senior forward Cici Gonzalez said Woodard has brought a new approach to the squad’s preparation.
“He’s really big on watching film on ourselves to see what we’re doing well,” Gonzalez said. “He’s really knowledgeable about soccer and he’s really fired up for us.”
The coach has changed, but most Warriors starters return including the players who scored 98 of the 105 goals tallied by the squad last season. Steinbrenner does lose three seniors.
“We’re all close and know how each other plays,” Gonzalez said. “We did lose three seniors who were all starters, but we gained back some players who were injured last year and have some new young players. We haven’t replaced those seniors in everything they did for the team, but our positions are filled.”
Gonzalez led the Warriors with 33 goals and 34 assists last season, making her the only Hillsborough County girl with a 30/30 season. She was named the All-Laker/All-Lutz News Girls Soccer Player of the Year.
Steinbrenner also got double-digit scoring seasons from Bredeau and sophomore midfielder Danielle Eule, who posted 24 and 11, respectively.
“Cici is an amazing player, Danielle is an amazing player,” Bredeau said. “To have those players on your team is an honor to play with them. It’s not all the pressure on one player.”
Eule said it was a little daunting early on playing in an offense system as productive as Steinbrenner’s as a freshman last year, but she added the way her teammates work together made it easy by season’s end.
“It’s such a fast-paced game and everyone is always in the right place,” Eule said. “We just play so well together and the goals just seem to come naturally.”
Woodard plans on having even more players contribute offensively.
“I’m looking to get more people in double digit goals or five goals this season,” Woodard said. “I really want to spread it around this year. If you’ve got one player, anyone can gameplan for you and shut that player down.”
The Warriors had a high-power offense, but the defense held opponents down on a regular basis. They allowed only seven goals in their 25 games. The only team to score twice against Steinbrenner last year was Osceola in a 4-2 contest in the regional quarterfinals.
“It’s a relief knowing that if it gets past us we have strong people behind us,” Eule said. “They always do a great job of stopping the ball and moving it back forward.”
Woodard said defenders like sophomore Miranda Gonzalez and junior Kaitlyn Huntzinger will be major factors in preventing goals again this year.
Steinbrenner travels to Alonso on Tuesday, Nov. 15 at 8 p.m. The Warriors open up district play at Freedom on Thursday, Nov. 17 at 8 p.m.
–All stats as recorded to Maxpreps.com by coaches.
