Offensive Lally helps Crown to soccer title

Former Knight goes from defender to scorer

By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
   Stephanie Lally was in the back of the West Windsor-Plainsboro North defense when the girls’ soccer team won its first Central Jersey Group III state championship in 2004.
   She was in the front as the Crown College women’s team won its second straight National Christian College Athletic Association Division II title last month.
   ”My friends from home are still shocked that I play forward,” Lally said. “That’s still the biggest shock to everyone, myself included.”
   Maybe most shocking is the success she has enjoyed as a forward for Crown. Lally finds the transformation hard to believe.
   ”I only scored three goals in high school,” Lally said. “The first one, I scored against my own team in a game against Steinert. I scored one sophomore year. I scored one junior year. Then I came here and I scored 33 goals as a freshman.”
   Her outburst last year earned her Division II All-America honors and she was named to the All-Tournament team as a freshman. This year, she was named Most Valuable Player of the Division II tournament after scoring two goals and having an assist in the semifinal and then scoring the final penalty kick in Crown’s 3-0 shootout win over Philadelphia Biblical University.
   ”It was pretty exciting especially because I wasn’t expecting it,” Lally said. “I had missed so much of the season.”
   Lally wasn’t even sure that she would have the chance to play for the Storm this season. She broke her foot in spring training with Crown, then broke it again three months later while working a summer camp at Crown. After having a screw inserted to repair the break the second time, she faced a long road back. But she made it back to not only contribute but help lead the Storm to a second straight title.
   ”I had a really long offseason. I missed the first eight games,” Lally said. “It was incredibly frustrating. Being able to come back and play at all, after I was told I might have to red-shirt, it was the best thing of all.
   ”I missed one-third of the season. I was frustrated. I’m a horrible bystander. To watch our team play, I feel so useless.”
   Lally had felt like that once before, in her senior year with the Knights. A year after helping to anchor the defense that won the sectional championship, Lally spent most of her senior season at WW-P North on the sidelines with torn ligaments and a broken ankle. Lally’s leadership still made her an important part when she returned for the Knights’ run to a second sectional title game, which they lost in a shootout.
   ”I had a great class,” Lally said. “It was a great group of girls. It’s different to play without that history. You’re building your own history. I don’t think anything can match my West Windsor North days. Those girls are so much fun. Those girls were my best friends.”
   Lally left WW-P North as a stopper, a four-year player for the Knights varsity. She came in and the Storm tried her at forward.
   ”I never played offense at all. I think what it was, was a fresh set of eyes,” Lally said. “The coaches evaluated the way I was playing. Almost immediately, they saw me as an aggressive player and put me up.
   ”I hated it at first. I didn’t know what I was doing. Then I scored in the first five minutes of my first game and never moved back.”
   Lally’s effectiveness on offense is undeniable. During the regular season, she scored 11 goals and nine assists while starting 11 games. She was second on the team in both categories despite missing significant time early and having to play herself back into shape upon her return. By the NCCAA tournament, teams did their best to slow Lally, who was looking forward to the biggest moments of the season.
   ”In the championship game, they had my number,” she said. “I was marked pretty tightly. There’s a lot of excitement surrounding that situation. There are a lot more fans than any other game. It all adds to the atmosphere. For that situation, it’s a matter of remaining composed and using the energy around me and using that to my advantage. I usually do enjoy the bigger pressure-filled games. My teammates, in our last game, they really showed through.”
   But when Lally stepped to the line for her penalty kick, with the Storm already holding a 2-0 lead, her final goal of the season put all the pressure on Philadelphia Biblical University and the game ended when their third kicker missed. Lally was thrilled with the win, but wasn’t resting on another successful season. Two weeks later, she was in the weight room at night working out.
   ”The ‘08 season has already started,” she said. “We start indoor in a couple weeks. The soccer team is going to Costa Rica over spring break. It’s pretty exciting.”
   And when they return in the fall, the Storm players will have a new challenge. After winning the last two Division II titles, they have moved up to Division I.
   ”Initially, it wasn’t taken so well by the team,” Lally said. “It was like, why don’t we go in and crush every single year? What’s the problem with that? But I think we have the program moving in the right direction. Now we’re establishing ourselves on the next level. The coaching staff is excited to get stronger recruits. We only graduate three girls. I hope it’ll be a good year. There are a whole new set of challenges.”
   Lally has already helped Crown to a bit of history with wins in her first two seasons with the women’s soccer program. It only took her arrival to bring one championship.
   ”That was the first one in the school’s history,” she said. “It was exciting for all of Crown athletics. To do it two years in a row, it was unheard of.”
   Winning history-making titles is nothing new to Stephanie Lally. She did the same while at WW-P North, and now she’s doing the same for Crown College, albeit in a far different role. Either way, she’s been a winner.