James Wood’s Stanford Signs To Play Soccer At Division I Lafayette

Posted: February 5, 2015
By KEVIN TRUDGEON
The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — If there’s one thing Jim Carden knows about Alex Stanford, it’s that when she sets a goal for herself you can pretty much bank on her reaching it.

So when the James Wood girls’ soccer coach stood up in front of the crowd gathered in the school’s library Wednesday afternoon and recalled how Stanford has wanted to play at the collegiate level for as long as he’s known her, it seemed more a tale of inevitability than wishful thinking.

In front of family, friends, teachers and teammates, Stanford signed her national letter of intent to play soccer for Division 1 Lafayette College, fulfilling a goal she’s been working towards for a long time.

“This has always been a dream of mine,” said Stanford, who will not be receiving an athletic scholarship but is guaranteed a spot on the team. “This is something I’ve been working for my whole life. Traveling to Loudoun [County] three or four days a week for the past five or six years [for her travel soccer club], playing year around.

“Honestly, it just feels like all of my hard work is finally paying off and I’m just excited to be able to play four more years at the next level and be able to contribute to a really good team.”

The goal may have always been to play at the next level, but Stanford said it wasn’t until her sophomore year — when she was named a captain and set the James Wood single-season assist record with 17 — that she realized she could make it a reality, and it wasn’t until this past summer that she found the right college and soccer program.

Thanks to a fortuitous conversation between Stanford’s mother, Jennifer, and a family friend in July, she was made aware of Lafayette and reached out to coach Mick Statham to see if there were any openings on the team.

As luck would have it, a player had just turned down the last spot available the day before and Statham invited Stanford up to a camp the next weekend.

After a strong performance in which she impressed the Leopards coaching staff and got to know some of the current players and future recruits, Statham offered Stanford a roster spot.

“It all happened so fast, but it worked out great,” said Stanford, who plans to major in biology and eventually attend medical school. “I was looking for an academic institution with rigorous academics where I could continue to play and Lafayette was it.”

While Stanford felt that the school located in Easton, Pa., was a perfect fit for her, her coaches feel like she will be a great addition to the Leopards, who are members of the Patriot League — which includes the likes of Navy, Army and Boston University — and are coming off a 5-11-1 season.

“They’re getting a hard-working player who’s passionate about the game,” said Dave Bucciero, who has coached Stanford for the past two seasons with the travel club Loudoun Soccer. “Alex will do well because she will continue to push herself to get better.

“Alex is a very technical player, she’s got good skill on the ball, and she is a good passer and can score goals as well. She’s an all-around player.”

Coming off a junior year in which she scored a team-high 14 goals, tied for the team-high with 11 assists, and helped James Wood win the Northwestern District for the first time in program history, there’s no questioning the type of impact Stanford can have on the field.

And considering she did all of that after moving to attacking midfielder — she traditionally plays forward for her travel team and will do so at Lafayette — Carden stressed that Stanford is the type of player who will do whatever it takes to help her team.

“She’s done so much for us and for this program,” Carden said. “She’s probably going to break every record in the program and she’s really come to understand the mental aspect of the game and has just grown more and more as a player every year.

“I knew she had the mental capacity to do anything she wanted and [playing in college] was a dream of hers. I’m thankful I’ve had the opportunity to coach so many wonderful players and she’s one of them.”

Stanford said her goal had always kind of been “D1 or bust,” both because of the allure of playing at the top collegiate level and because of the better medical school acceptance rates for the larger college and universities, and Wednesday made all the hard work worthwhile.

“It means so much to have all of my friends and family here because they’ve always supported me over the years,” Stanford said. “It’s a dream come true, it really is.”

— Contact Kevin Trudgeon at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Follow on Twitter @WinStarSports1