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Land O'Lakes sophomore Stacy Bishop is the All-County Player of the Year after leading her team to the regional finals with 39 goals and 27 assists.
By LINDA ROTHSTEIN
© St. Petersburg Times, published March 6, 2001
LAND O'LAKES -- She's shy and quiet. She's often the last one to speak up among her varsity teammates. She's not a trash talker on the field or anywhere else. Land O'Lakes midfielder Stacy Bishop lets her play speak for itself.
"She really plays by example," Land O'Lakes coach Vicky King said.
After scoring a school-record 46 goals last year, Bishop was a marked player this season. But despite being double-teamed most of the time, Bishop managed to score 39 goals.
"She dealt with the season very, very well," King said. "The part about, yes, everybody knows who you are now -- she never got frustrated, even when people were trailing her all over the place. She took it in such a good manner."
The sophomore played a more all-around role this year, dishing out a team-high 27 assists, more than a third of the team's total. Many of those passes went to forward Casie Poyssick, who led the team with 43 goals.
"She's a lot more mature on the field this year," King said. "She always makes good decisions; I think she made better decisions this year. In a couple of the tougher games, toward the end of the game when we were trying to hold onto a lead, instead of playing more offensively, she automatically dropped and played another defensive midfielder, another stopper."
The Gators scored 139 goals this season and 17 players scored at least once. They finished with a 24-6-1 record and advanced to the Class 3A, Region 3 final before bowing out.
"We were a lot better as a team this year," Bishop said. "I guess we had the experience from last year and we were working a lot better together. We made it a lot further than expected."
The key to Land O'Lakes' season came in the District 9 semifinals against Countryside, a team the Gators split two games with earlier in the year. A win would guarantee a berth in the region tournament; a loss would mean an end to the season.
"They just knew that if we didn't beat Countryside, we were done," King said.
The Gators edged the Cougars 2-1, putting Land O'Lakes in the final against East Lake.
Bishop scored both goals against Countryside, including the game-winner on a 25-yard free kick with less than two minutes to play. Bishop scored a total of 11 goals in the post-season.
"It was her desire," King said. "And not just to do it for herself, but to do it for the team.
"She took advantage of opportunities that were there. But everybody played really well."
Land O'Lakes' season finally ended in the region final with a loss to No. 2-ranked Sarasota.
"They were good and we didn't put any offensive pressure on them," Bishop said.
"As soon as they scored that first goal, we just let down."
Bishop started playing recreational soccer as a 4-year-old and began playing competitively when she was 9, joining the Temple Terrace club team. She now plays with Temple Terrace's under-16 team.