High school soccer: MVPs helped teams to succeed

A common thread binds each player selected by the Deseret News as an MVP for the 2010 girls soccer season.

These were players who took their contributions to another level. They scored the big goals. They made the key plays. They helped their respective teams enjoy a great degree of success.

And each of these players knows how it feels to end a season as a champion at some point during their careers.

5A: Stephanie Verdoia, Brighton

It comes as an ironic twist that Stephanie Verdoia was not responsible for scoring Brighton's final goal of the season — the one that lifted the Bengals past Viewmont to claim the 5A title.

Verdoia did practically everything necessary on offense during the season to get Brighton in position to go undefeated and claim its first state championship since 2005. The senior forward scored 27 goals to rank second among 5A players in goal-scoring.

To put her contributions in perspective, the No. 2 scorer for the Bengals had just five goals to her credit this season.

Verdoia's ability to carry the offense helped make her team virtually unstoppable.

"She was anything and everything a coach would ask for up top," Brighton coach Tennille Vance said. "She has the talent and she has the motivation. She has the heart. She leaves everything out on that field. No one is going to beat her."

Vance said that besides becoming an outstanding scoring forward, Verdoia emerged as an important team leader on and off the field. She was the type of player her younger teammates looked up to and admired.

For all of Verdoia's clutch play — which included scoring six of Brighton's nine goals during its 5A playoff run — she deferred to the Bengals' defense as being the difference-maker. Verdoia said she sharpened her skills by training against such a solid unit.

"Every practice we had to go against them," Verdoia said. "It's a battle every time. Even when you think you have an easy go to a goal, they're there fighting for the 50/50 ball, getting you out of the way and making you a better player."

Verdoia also possesses a relentless work ethic that made her want to do whatever she could to make her team better.