Mullins, Blanchard led their teams to success through different means
By Ken Jackson
Sports Writer
Goals are the lifeblood of soccer.
Some players score them. Some players prevent them. But if you don’t have a talented scorer to give your team the lead, or a shutdown back  to keep it, you’re in for a long day.
Especially in this county.
At one end of the spectrum is Osceola sophomore Leah Mullins, who tallied 57 goals this past season as the Kowgirls advanced to the regional playoffs for the first time in school history.
That 57 figure is the highest in county history by a player not named Monique Aviles, who never had fewer than 67 in four seasons at Gateway (2000-03) and ended her career second nationally in career goals.
At the other end is Harmony’s junior sweeper Anna Blanchard. The Longhorns last line of defense before the goalie might as well have been another goalie. Harmony posted shutouts in 12 of its first 13 matches and allowed just over five shots per match in that stretch.
Thanks in large part to Blanchard, Harmony allowed just one goal in its district quarterfinal and semifinal wins as the school reached the regional playoffs for the first time.
Mullins and  Blanchard are the Osceola News-Gazette Girls Soccer Players of the Year.
Mullins’ success wasn’t surprising as she scored 39 goals as a freshman. But, she didn’t see 57 goals coming.
“My friend told me at the start of the year, ‘I bet you’ll pass 30,’ and I thought to myself that there was no way,” she said. “I didn’t expect to score so many; we just took it one game at a time as a team.”
Blanchard, in her third varsity season, was starting at her third different position and was probably more of an unknown factor. She was a forward as a freshman and a sophomore midfielder until she found the spot that became hers to thrive in.
“There’s a lot of pressure on a stopper or sweeper, but I was able to play the way I wanted to confidently this year,” she said. “I trust the players around me, so I never felt like I had to give up on the ball. And I didn’t want to put Kaylee (Horn, HHS goalkeeper) in a position where she had to stop someone by herself.”
Playing with speed
Mullins said her biggest asset is her burst of speed, which enabled her to get behind defenders and beat overmatched goalies in one-on-one breakaway situations.
By the end of the season, she found it more difficult to run through defenses, which kept a player in front of her to try to deny her the ball, and one behind her to prevent the one-on-one.
Mullins said she’s aware, and is already working to adjust for next season.
“I still don’t have an amazing shot, so I’ll be working on finishing,” she said. “I’m working on trying to score on shooting from outside the box.”
She said a change in strategy doesn’t mean she’ll be out to break her school-record goal tally as a junior.
“It might be in my head, but breaking a record isn’t going to change how I play,” she said.
OHS Coach Mark Ausherman said that, with two years left, Mullins hasn’t reached her potential.
“I look forward to the next two years with her and the rest of our young team,” he said “A great thing about having other teams know that she can score is if they double team her it leaves other players open that can score. As a team we all work together to win.”
The Kowgirls, powered by Mullins, went 13-8-2, the finest season for OHS girls soccer in recent memory. She said the team’s district championship game and regional playoff experience, while not successful, showed how far the Kowgirls have to go to be on par with elite teams like Winter Haven, who won District 5A-5, and George Jenkins, which reached the Class 5A Final Four and rolled through the regular season undefeated.
“We’d never never won districts, we were close here and I think we can win it next year,” she said. “At regionals, playing George Jenkins was a whole different level. They play with a competitive edge that’s hard to match up with the first time you play them.”
Playing with instinct
Thanks to Blanchard’s finding a home in the middle of the defense, Harmony reached the regional playoffs for the first time ever, like Osceola.
The Longhorns were scored on by only four teams — Eustis, in the regular season, district title game and regional semfinal; Bishop Moore, which won its Class 3A district; St. Cloud in a 2-1 Longhorns win in the District 4A-6 semifinal (that put them in the regionals) and a 2-1 win over Gainesville Eastside in the regional quarterfinals.
The final tally after a 13-4-2 season, easily the best in six seasons of Harmony soccer: 80 goals for, just 21 against and 14 shutouts.
Blanchard, when she wasn’t keeping her end of the field clear of opposing forwards, also added five goals, three on penalty kicks.
HHS Coach Stephanie Jones said Blanchard came into her own this year as the central defender.
“She can play anywhere, she has the technical ability and instinct, but she’s made her biggest contribution yet in the defensive role, and she was our leading scorer as a freshman,” Jones said. “This year she matured into the player that she is.
“We were talking (during the final water break) against Eastside and I didn’t have to say anything to her. She just said, ‘No ball coming through.’”
Blanchard said the gap is narrowing between Harmony and the elite teams.
“We knew Eustis and Bishop Moore would be tough. Now they know about us,” she said. “It was important to us this year to show we belonged in the regionals.”
HHS should be good next year. Of this year’s 80 goals, 76 are from returning players.
“Next year we have a chance to play right with Eustis,” Blanchard said. “We’re all playing club and we’re all getting together for one last run to remember.”

All-County girls soccer

Players of the Year: Leah Mullins (Soph., OHS) Anna Blanchard (Jr., HHS)
All-county team: St. Cloud: Kelly Coughenour (Sr.), Alyson Spry (Sr.), Veronica Stookey (Sr.), Megan Lubick (Jr.). Harmony: Emily Johnson (Jr.), Payton Leffew (Jr.), Caitlin Beam (Soph.), Kaylee Horn (Jr.), Kaley Ward (Fr.), Shadya Maldonado (Sr.). Osceola: Clair Tudor (Soph.), Crystal Marshall (Sr.), Kiersten Martinez (Soph.). Celebration: Natalie Melo (Sr.). Poinciana: Danielle Akkerman (Sr.), Estelle Experance (Fr.).