Vandy girls ready for deep playoff run

For most schools, finishing as the state runner-up is a major accomplishment and a source of school pride.

For the Vandebilt girls’ soccer team, it’s the mark of an incomplete season.

But that’s exactly where the Lady Terriers have been each of the past two seasons, as they have been unable to seal the team and take home the state title, losing in each of the two previous state title matches.

With a talented core roster and a little fire in their bellies, Vandebilt believes they have the formula in place to make the third time the charm.

Their record shows that to be the case as the Lady Terriers will take a sparkling 20-5-1 record into postseason play.

“Things have been good,” Vandebilt coach Philip Amedee said. “Things have been pretty good as far as the record goes. And I think actually we’re starting to play a little better soccer right now, as we should be, so that’s exciting going forward.”

“We just have a goal and we’re trying to get to it,” forward Marcie St. Germaine said. “We’re trying to win the state championship. So far, so good. We’re good to a great start.”

The reason for Vandebilt’s success starts on the offensive side of the pitch.

The Lady Terriers employ a dominant offensive attack, having scored seven or more goals in eight of their 25 matches this year and three or more goals in 16 matches.

Amedee said being a dominant offensive team is a stalwart of the Vandebilt program, something they take pride in each year.

“We’re always known as a strong attacking team,” the coach said. “We put a lot of pressure on people and create a lot of opportunities. This year’s no different. We’ve certainly shown an ability to put the ball in the back of the net.”

“We’re just really good with possession,” St. Germaine said. “We work the ball around. We have our strong points around the wings and we’re really good at just crossing the ball and finishing. It’s just basic soccer.”

But with Vandebilt’s offensive prowess, the team’s defense has gone unnoticed.

To everyone except Amedee, that is.

He’s quick to boast that defensively his team is playing better than it has in years.

“We’ve played very well defensively,” Amedee said. “That’s kind of the thing that seems to be overlooked a little bit because of our offensive prowess. But we’ve been pretty solid there and it’s definitely been instrumental in our success.”

The numbers back up the coach’s claim.

The Lady Terriers have allowed just 22 goals all season.

In district matches, the team is even more dominant and has yet to allow a goal, outscoring opponents by a combined 62-0 margin.

The key to the team’s defensive success is a three-headed goalie combination led by starter Haley Billiot and also Sarah Powell and Anna Ortego who have all seen time in the net for the Lady Terriers this season.

“It’s good when you have three quality keepers to choose from,” Amedee said. “That’s a very good problem to have.”

Midfielder Lexie Bonvillain agreed and said having the trio gives Vandebilt the luxury of mixing and matching its defensive personnel to combat the strengths of its opponents.

“Different goalies give us different things,” Bonvillain said. “We use Haley. She’s solid with her punts and everything. Sarah’s more aggressive in that she’ll come out of the net a lot farther and get the ball and Anna’s definitely very good, as well.

“It just depends on who we play who will be in the net. But that’s a good thing. It gives us the ability to sort of match up to do whatever’s the best for our team.”

Offense and defense aside, the Lady Terriers believe their biggest ally is history and the bad taste in their mouth they are ready to relieve.

After losing in the state title game for the second-straight season, several of the team’s older players implemented more conditioning sessions into the team’s routine to try and be better equipped for the state powers Vandebilt will see in the postseason.

What started as voluntary workouts eventually became somewhat mandatory as the team has really rallied around the advanced work.

“The girls are really working harder than they have at the beginning of the year,” Amedee said. “They have really strongly committed themselves to making a deep run in the playoffs. The extra incentive is the way things have ended for us lately … Our desire to get over the top this year has really pushed us. They are working very hard. We practice for an hour and 45 minutes and then we condition for another hour. The conditioning was supposed to just be extra, but it’s really been something the leaders have enforced pretty heavily.”

“We work hard every practice,” right fullback Lauren Voisin said. “We just leave everything out on the field. Conditioning is very important toward taking it all home. That’s a main part of the game, so we’ve been stressing that a lot lately.”

Whatever it takes to go the extra mile and finish first this time.

No one wants to stop short this year.

That’s just not the way things work for Vandebilt soccer.

“It’s like, ‘Wow, we were here two years ago and we didn’t finish,’” Bonvillain said. “Then it’s like, ‘Wow, we were here just a few months ago and we didn’t finish.’ This year, we’ve got to finish this thing. Right now, we all have a bunch of ‘what ifs’ in our heads. And no one likes ‘what ifs’, so we need to finish it this time.”

The Vandebilt girls’ soccer team huddles together after finishing as the state runner-up last season. After two-straight second place finishes, the Lady Terriers say they are hungry to take the next step and make a strong push at winning the state title. FILE PHOTO