Fall 2011 Preview: Island Trees Girls Soccer

There's an old cliché in sports that "speed kills," and this year's Island Trees girls soccer team has plenty of it.

Take striker Allison Merrill during this past Saturday's game against Oyster Bay. There were five or six instances where Merrill blazed past the Oyster Bay defense on her own. She converted three of those chances, running around the goaltender to finish the hat trick. The three goals accounted for the team's 3-0 victory.

"We happen to be extremely fast this year all over the field, but her explosiveness is our biggest weapon," said Island Trees head coach Andrew Schneider. "With the ball on her foot, she’s faster than most people without the ball. She creates opportunities for everyone else on the field, which, in turn, makes everyone else better."

Things will not be easy for the Lady Dawgs, but what's working in their favor is the fact that they return ten starters from a year ago. They have a two-time All-County player in Merrill up front and an All-Division sophomore forward in Kristen Breithof (nicknamed "stone" for her hard shot) alongside her. The entire defensive unit from a year ago, anchored by All-Conference sweeper Bridget Vilbig, is back for a team that conceded more than one goal in two of the team's 15 games last year. (Uncoincidentally, they finished the regular season 9-2-4.)

Many of the starters returning are seniors this year, and those seniors lead the rest of the team by example, according to coach Schneider. "They all have tremendous soccer ability," he said, "but what makes them special is their work ethic and the way they lead on and off the field. The seniors make sure everyone is working hard and playing smart."

Part of what helps the team play smart is their familiarity with one another. The ten returning starters have played consistently together for the past two years. Some of the girls on the team were playing together at the age of three. That type of familiarity makes communication come easy to the Lady Dawgs.

“If one girl makes a mistake, we know that the other girls will recover for them," said senior captain Bridget Vilbig. "Everybody has their mental breakdowns, but we rarely do.”

Coach Schneider enjoys not only enjoys coaching his players; he also enjoys being around them. ("They are fun to be around and a pleasure to coach," he said. "I coach half of them in two sports and I know them as well as anybody.) But he also expects a lot out of them, too. And he believes that his team's cohesiveness and speed puts them on a level with any opponent they may face.

"This team is tough and will be dangeous for anybody to play against," he said. "We know this team can beat anybody on any given day."