The wait is over for Anna Stalnaker.
A starter for the Bordentown Regional High School girls soccer team since her freshman year, the senior midfielder is looking to make the most of her final season with the Scotties.
“I’ve definitely been waiting to become a senior,” Stalnaker said. “I think the past four years have definitely just been so fun. I love soccer season. I really appreciate all the coaching that I’ve been given and everything, and it’s all been very beneficial. I’m definitely excited for this year and hopefully it goes well.”
Stalnaker is the leading returning scorer for the Scotties, who graduated their top scorer, Julie Wojcik from last year’s team that went 7-12 overall, 6-6 in the Burlington County Scholastic League. Stalnaker will be slotted in the center midfield for the fourth straight year.
“Her distribution skills are extremely good, and I had seen a lot of that when she was younger,” said Bordentown head coach Dominick Castaldo. “Her sophomore year and her junior year putting her in the center, and as a freshman, she came in and started playing center half. We kind of put her in a situation and it was baptism under fire really. And she’s responded really well. She will be the distributor for us and how we’re going to actually handle things on the field and keep possession. She will score goals too. She’s encouraged to shoot.”
Her production has gone up each season, from four points as a freshman, to 10 points as a sophomore, to 27 points on nine goals and nine assists last season. Stalnaker is happiest creating for others, and understands the importance of generating goals to the team.
“I love scoring goals too, but I definitely take pride in my passing ability,” Stalnaker said. “And I think I see the field well and that’s why I love playing like attacking center mid or center midfield in general because I think it gives me an opportunity to make good plays and have assists and everything like that.
“Obviously I have a goal to score as many goals as I can, but an even bigger goal would be to play-make and give opportunities to our forwards so they are able to also score and we can get our goal rate up from last year. I think that would be great.”
Bordentown will open the season with three games in three days. They host Northern Burlington on Sept. 5, play at Burlington Township on Sept. 6 and host Gloucester on Sept. 7.
“Our schedule is a tough schedule,” Castaldo said. “I’ve always been one to say we’ll play anybody anytime. The only thing that will make us better is if you play better competition in our league.”
One of the challenges for the Scotties this year is finding goal scoring. Without Wojcik, Bordentown is looking for someone who worries opposing defenses every time they get the ball. It could take them some time to find that player.
“We definitely have to take a couple girls into consideration and see how they play up there,” Stalnaker said. “I know that there’s people comfortable up there, but I don’t think that maybe they know their ability, or they’re not confident enough on the ball yet. So I think a big, a big thing for me would be to help them gain their confidence and get them to shoot.”
Stalnaker still remembers what it was like being a newcomer to the varsity, and the challenges of finding a role and bringing confidence to the pitch. She falls back on that experience to help her become a better leader for her less experienced teammate now.
“My freshman year I was a little bit nervous because I was the youngest one, but I always just felt like the environment was amazing,” Stalnaker said. “The girls quickly took me under their wing. Even though I was nervous, it definitely dissipated after a little bit especially with us having a good freshman season.”
Stalnaker can have a bigger impact on this year’s team as a senior captain. She was also a captain last year.
“I was a captain last year, but there were still girls that were older than me, so I feel like they still kind of called the shots a little bit,” Stalnaker said. “I think this year I’m definitely appreciative of my role, because I love being able to connect with the younger girls and make them the best players that they can be. I’m just looking forward to taking on this role and being the leader that I know I need to be.”
Castaldo, too, is looking to push the players more than he did last year when he felt the team got complacent at times. The preseason has been setting the tone for working harder every day. Castaldo, who finished his 40th season coaching last year and comes into this season with 420 career wins — second in South Jersey history behind Jamie McGroarty of Eastern, who won his 500th game two years ago — is encouraged by the early progress.
“They’re a lot more together than I’ve seen in a little while as far as the way that they’re approaching practice, they’re approaching games,” Castaldo said. “We’ve been doing a lot of fitness, especially early, just trying to get them ready and they’ve been responding really, really well to us. So far it’s gone a lot better than I’ve seen over the last couple of years.”
Returning some familiar faces has given the Scotties a good starting point for the season. Finding scoring will still be the focus and be a big difference maker for their outcomes.
“Right now strength wise, I feel that we’re a little bit ahead of ourselves from a defensive standpoint and then through the midfield,” Castaldo said. “At one point last year we were playing three sophomores and a freshman as a back four. My midfield is basically just about the same as what we had last year.”
Castaldo will lean on Stalnaker and the senior class to set the pace as the team settles into its roles. The other seniors back from last year’s varsity include Kendall Lampman, Ella Garofolo and Devianna Rich. Juniors who were on the varsity roster last year include Kate Wade, Jacklyn Katz, Alexis Thiel, Lauren Kelly and Allie Glen.
“My seniors are good leaders,” Castaldo said. “They are going to help in their own way and they each bring something different to the table. And then I do have a group of juniors that are equally as talented and as good leaders. So we have a lot of good leadership on the team, and a very tight knit group because they played a lot together through their years as they grew up.”
Stalnaker, who plays Next Level club soccer, is anxious to make the most of her final scholastic season. She also plays basketball, and recently picked up golf and is considering that sport for the spring. But it’s soccer that is her first love and something that she hopes to pursue in college, where she’d like to study sports management or psychology as she looks to remain active in athletics beyond school.
“I’ve always been athletic, so really I like any sports,” Stalnaker said. “I’ve been playing golf recently and that’s been really fun. I love going to the beach. I love hanging out with my family, my friends, just really anything. I’m pretty flexible. I dabble in pretty much everything. And I like school.”
Stalnaker is fiercely competitive. She is determined to help the Scotties finish as high as possible against another challenging schedule in a BCSL that has no gimmes. Last year, Bordentown went in waves, sandwiching three- and four-game win streaks around three-, six- and three-game losing stretches. Stalnaker is optimistic that she can help keep the team on track all year long.
“It’s my last year and I want to give it my all,” she said. “As long as we have a positive mindset about winning, and even losing – when we lose, not letting it get us down because I know in past years that definitely happened and I don’t want that to be the case. I’m hoping for a good winning season.”
That would be a good bookend to her high school career that began with one of Bordentown’s best seasons in recent history. Stalnaker has been a staple in the lineup over the past three seasons. She has established herself as a premier player in the midfield, and brings high expectations for herself and the team into this fall.
“We have a good team bond already, even with the new girls,” Stalnaker said. “They seem like they’re getting comfortable pretty quick and I definitely have people that I see a lot of potential in and I’m definitely excited for the season.”
Midfielder Anna Stalnaker has been a member of the Bordentown varsity soccer team since her freshman year.,
