Girls’ Soccer Player Of The Year — James Wood’s Alex Stanford

Posted: June 25, 2014
By KEVIN TRUDGEON
The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — Ask Jim Carden to describe exactly what it is that Alex Stanford does best on the soccer field and the longtime coach has to take a moment and smile.

Does he pick her field vision and high soccer IQ that makes her such a dangerous attacking midfielder? Or does he go with her innate ability to be in the right place at the right time on crosses into the goal box?

He could just as easily point out the leadership that’s made her a varsity captain the past two years as a sophomore and junior, or the fact that he can deploy her just about anywhere on the field and know that she will produce.

Instead, the James Wood girls’ soccer coach, who’s not usually known for his brevity, chooses to sum up his star junior’s contributions on the pitch in one all-encompassing, three-word answer.

“She does everything.”

Whether she was scoring a team-best 14 goals (fourth most in the area), tying for the team lead in assists with 11 (also tied for fourth in the area) or playing just about every position outside of goalie, Stanford did it all for the Colonels this year.

And in a season that saw James Wood win its first Northwestern District title since the program began 19 years ago, it seems only fitting that Stanford becomes the first Colonel ever to be named The Winchester Star Girls’ Soccer Player of the Year.

“She’s a big part of everything that we do,” Carden said. “She has wonderful vision and wonderful skill, she’s got a great first touch. ... I could go on all day about her. She’s just a really sincere, sensitive, intelligent young lady, and not only that, but she’s also a really, really good soccer player.”

That much was evident two years ago when Stanford won a starting spot in the lineup as a freshman, and it became even clearer when she set the single-season assist record as a sophomore with 17.

But for someone who Carden describes as “the ultimate team player,” the individual accolades meant little without the accompaniment of team success, which is why Stanford couldn’t help but smile herself when asked about being part of James Wood history this season.

“It means so much to me, both as an individual and as a team it was huge,” said Stanford, who also became the first Colonel to be named the outright Northwestern District Player of the Year.

“Being a first is always really exciting and being the first [to win a district championship] at James Wood is just amazing. Going in we weren’t really sure how it was going to go, but we ended up having such a successful season, it was great.”

A year after going 6-10-2 overall with a roster consisting of just five seniors and a total of eight freshmen and sophomores, the Colonels were arguably even younger this season with just four seniors and 12 players in their first or second year of high school.

But Carden knew that he had weapons in sophomores Emily Denton and Abby Lanham and senior Marissa Maddalena, a stout defense in front of experienced keeper Charlie Woods-Hulse and the right player to bring them all together in Stanford.

“Alex did everything I asked her to do,” Carden said. “I moved her to the back, where she had never played, for a couple games, played her at center mid, striker, outside, really wherever we needed her. She became a much more mature player this year and, after starting six freshmen last year, we became a more mature team too.”

Stressing the need for better possession and ball control — Stanford said last year’s team played more of a “kick-and-run style” — James Wood used a bevy of talented returners, along with a couple of key newcomers in freshmen Neary Casebolt and Hannah Moszak, to take control of the Northwestern District.

After a five-game stretch that saw them go 1-3-1 early in the year, the Colonels turned the corner with a rain-soaked, 4-2 road win over two-time defending champ Milbrook.

And in a trend that would continue throughout the season, Stanford had a big hand in her team’s success.

Working off passes from her offensive counterpart in Denton — the two of them combined for 24 goals and 22 assists on the season — Stanford found the back of the net twice in a victory that kicked off a dominating stretch for James Wood.

Shutout victories over Skyline (6-0), Handley (2-0) and Turner Ashby (3-0) followed as the Colonels rattled off an eight-game unbeaten streak that saw them grow more and more confident with each win.

“Beating Millbrook was huge because we hadn’t ever beaten them in my high school career and it was their first district loss since 2011,” said Stanford, who finished with three goals and an assist in James Wood’s three games against the Pioneers.

“That was really the point in time where we realized, ‘Wow, we can really do this. The ball’s in our hands, we’ve just got to go.’”

The Colonels officially clinched the district title with a 6-0 win over Skyline in the regular season finale — with Stanford providing a hat trick to help seal the victory — but a disappointing 1-0 loss to Woodgrove three days later in the Conference 21 quarterfinals cut the celebration short.

Still, Stanford said the bittersweet ending could not erase all of the positives she and her teammates accomplished throughout the season, which included her very first goal off a header on a play that Carden described as “the goal of the year.”

“We had so many great moments this year and it’s something we’re going to be able to remember for forever,” Stanford said. “We actually got Coach Carden a signed ball that we’re going to put in our trophy case and it’s something that we’ll be able to bring our kids to see.”

Of course, Stanford and many of her young teammates will have a few more chances to add to that trophy case.

Carden knows that James Wood will be in the unfamiliar position of playing the favorite next season as the reigning district champs, but he’s excited about what his squad can do with so many returners, especially his do-everything midfielder.

“She has such a wonderful inner confidence and drive and she’s not afraid to fail,” Carden said. “She has all the technical ability and skill, but I’d say probably her biggest strength is the grit and gumption she has to keep going.

“She gets back up when she fails, which we preach all the time, and she really wants to play in college and I believe she can. She’s an amazing kid, I’m just happy I get to coach her for another year.”

— Contact Kevin Trudgeon at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Follow on Twitter @WinStarSports