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Freshmen saving the season
By Drew Herron
 Media Credit: Benjamin Wichterman First-year goalie Stephanie Brendel has helped lead the Huskies to a 4-1-1 record this season. Brendel posts a .97 goals against average with a .889 save percentage.
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Things seem to be looking up for SCSU soccer.
Last season is history. The disappointing season in which the Huskies lost twice as many games as they won is behind them, and things are looking brighter for the youthful Huskies.
Head Coach Stephanie McGuinness has her squad thinking positively and anticipating conference playoffs due to an improved attitude and contributions from some new players.
Perhaps the new player making the biggest impact is freshman goalkeeper Stephanie Brendel.
Going into Saturday's game against Minnesota State-Moorhead, Brendel was posting a 0.97 goals against average and a .889 save percentage behind a 3-1-1 record.
Other than the impressive stops the team is becoming accustomed to seeing her make, Brendel is making her presence known in other ways.
"She's brought us a lot of confidence back there," McGuinness said. "She has come up some absolutely outstanding saves. When she makes these saves, it gets us motivated to play better."
It isn't unheard of for a first-year player to come in and make an immediate impact, but it doesn't happen every year.
When Brendel was asked what she likes most about St. Cloud, she said emphatically, "the other girls on the team. I didn't know anyone when I came here, and they all accepted me and pushed me to be better."
Striving to get better is one of the qualities Brendel possesses that most impressed coach McGuinness.
McGuinness wasn't sure that she would be able to land the tall, athletic goalkeeper from Sheboygan, Wisc. when the two first met. McGuinness was aware that Brendel was being pursued by a Division I soccer program that was much closer to home.
Also, Brendel was physically ill at the time and McGuinness didn't really get an enthusiastic vibe.
But it was Brendel's relentless communication and e-mails with McGuinness that eventually led her here.
"She was very persistent that she really loved the school," McGuinness said. "Her persistency is her confidence, which goes really well with a goalkeeper. I knew that she was really confident of her abilities. She wanted to play and come in here and start. She wanted to earn that position. That was her objective, and she has done that."
Earning the starting goalkeeper job was just the first step in what seems destined to be a prolific college career at SCSU for Brendel.
Driven by self-confidence and a strong work ethic, Brendel doesn't seem to think there are limits to what she can accomplish.
"Sometime in these four years I want to be an All-American," Brendel said. "As far as team goals, I want us to win conference, or, at least get in the top rankings."
McGuinness also expects her to go far.
"In the future she easily can be an all-conference goalkeeper, and beyond that just depends on her staying healthy. She needs to get a little bit stronger, and she needs to keep playing at this level," McGuinness said. "She has an attitude and mindset of pushing herself to be the best she can be."
Brendel exudes a confidence that seems to be contagious. She isn't expected to be a team leader in that sense, but her work ethic and confidence in her abilities are apparent.
"She leads by example and with her work ethic," McGuinness said.
As Brendel matures, McGuinness has little doubt that she will play a greater leadership role in the coming years, a sentiment that Brendel shares.
"By then I'm sure I'll be a lot smarter," Brendel said. "Now it's like I talk a lot, but yet I feel like maybe I shouldn't be giving them directions because they're older than me and they've got the experience."
Perhaps some of her self-assurance comes from her strong soccer background. Her older brother plays at UW-Green Bay and has had a big influence in Brendel's life.
"I started playing around third grade," Brendel said. "And I played mainly because my brother played, and it looked fun."
The strict regimen of classes and practices are certainly limiting and time consuming, but Brendel believes the structure it provides her benefits her academically.
"The lack of free time actually helps me," Brendel said. "I'm so busy now that I actually have to get so much done in two hours and I don't procrastinate as much. The hardest part is finding time to do your homework, even though you're so tired you just want to sleep."
In addition to her soccer goals, Brendel, a Health and Phy-Ed major, has very specific academic goals.
"I would like to get a 3.7 GPA," Brendel said. "That would be a stretch for me, but it's a good goal. Soccer has taught me that hard work will take you almost anywhere."
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