Blanchard, Johnson helped Harmony make state tourney

By Ken Jackson
Sports Writer
Go to a loud, lively party and there’s always two people who aren’t whoopin’ it up with the rest of the revelers. They just go about their business almost unnoticed.
Out front, there’s the bouncer, busy keeping out the uninvited. On the inside, there’s the party host, running about making sure everyone else is involved and having a good time.
No bouncer, no host – no party.
Girls soccer games at Harmony High School this past winter were a lot like well-orchestrated, expertly executed parties. Thanks to a season-long Lady Longhorn group effort that was highlighted by Anna Blanchard, Emily Johnson and six other fellow seniors, the team coached by Stephanie Jones got to throw a bash on the state’s hottest scene – the state tournament at the University of Tampa’s Pepin Stadium, where the Longhorns lost a Class 4A state semifinal, 1-0, to eventual champion Steinbrenner.
Blanchard and Johnson didn’t do the big flashy things that dot the stat sheet, like score tons of goals or make saves on defense. Blanchard, the sweeper and anchor of the defense, prevented the shots from being taken on the Harmony goal, and Johnson, the center midfielder, put the rest of her talented teammates in position to score goals.
For their dirty, yet essential work, the two share the honor of Osceola News-Gazette Girls Soccer Players of the Year. Blanchard earned a piece of that last year as well.
Simply put, without them there’s no party at the U. of T.
The duo provided a team that went 19-2, won its first-ever district title and made the first team-sport state tourney appearance in school history with a calming leadership presence.
“You knew they were the leaders, you could see it from early on this year,” Jones said. “They were both more confident and had a presence, and sweeper and center midfield are the two best spots to have players like that.”
The team’s only losses came to the 4A state champ and Vero Beach, the Class 6A state runner-up. Only four opponents scored on the Longhorns.
“Anna anchored the defense, you have to attribute our 15 shutouts to a lot of her work, and in most cases the number of shots were minimal,” Jones said. “Even in the state game, their two forwards didn’t have any angles to run in with the ball (Steinbrenner’s goal came off a free kick sent long onto the net). If they worked free she’d chase them down with her speed. At the other end she developed into a penalty kick and free kick go-to person.”
Blanchard scored eight goals, mostly on set-piece free kicks. Probably the biggest came three minutes into the Longhorns’ regular-season meeting with longtime district bully Eustis. The 1-0, early-season victory likely set the tone for the expectation-blasting season.
More importantly, it made the team believe it could win in big situations, Blanchard said.
“We played Eustis again for the district title, and we just kept pushing forward and believing we were going to win,” she said. “After that, the playoff wins kept feeling better and better, and by the end we were living the dream. We lost, but I was still so happy that we got that far.”
Johnson, who had been a defender all her life until reaching high school – she still plays there and forward for the MeGu club team out of Melbourne that she and Blanchard play on – but finally grasped the concepts of playing center midfield in a dominating way this season.
“I had more confidence in my game this year, and it helped me distribute the ball better,” Johnson, who had six goals and five assists this season, said.
Jones said Johnson got her teammates involved in the offense this season.
“Emily brought a presence to the midfield. She controlled how we played, all of our runs went through her,” she said. “Defensively she shut down other midfield attacks.”
Jones called the pair “constants” of the program for their four-year varsity runs.
“They showed what they truly provided this year, in spots that get little glory because they’re not scoring consistently themselves,” she said.
But, Blanchard and Johnson both diverted credit to other talented Longhorns.
“Emily played awesome, and her sister (Lindsey, a freshman) did a great job. Kaylee (Horn, the goalkeeper) was great,” Blanchard said. “The freshmen up front (like 19-goal scorer Sage Leffew) and Breana (Plattner) with me in defense made us forget they were freshmen. This year our team was better, and it made my job a whole lot easier to do. I’m going to miss this team a lot.”
Said Johnson: “We had a senior in goal, Anna behind me, and everywhere else there was veteran leadership helping a freshman who was learning to start, like Caitlin (Beam, 11 goals, 14 assists) and Sage up front. I felt like if I could just possess the ball and get to them, we would score.
“We’ve set the bar so high for our freshmen, who are going to expect this every year because they went to state their first year. When we were freshmen and sophomores we were so happy to have a winning record, beat St. Cloud and win the OBC.”
But sadly, this may be the end of the line for Blanchard and Johnson, who are attending the University of Georgia and the University of Florida, respectively, for academics, and are not intending to seek soccer scholarships.
“I may walk on and try out,” Blanchard, considering a sports science major, said. “My club coach told me to go to a practice and mark up their fastest forward, and she won’t get past me. I’m not done playing, but I’ll miss the competition.”  
Johnson, who will study pediatric nursing, is getting pressure to do the same.
“My dad wants me to try to walk on,” she said. “While it hurt for a while that we were one goal away from the state champions, we played so hard on that stage that it felt good if it was my last game in a tournament like that.”
So, in an odd way, a pair of college-bound kids may be putting their partying days behind them.

Players of the Year: Anna Blanchard (Sr., HHS)

All-county team: Harmony: Caitlin Beam (Jr.), Kaylee Horn (Sr.), Payton Leffew (Sr.), Sage Leffew (Fr.), Kaley Ward (Soph.), Kendall Pollock (Soph.), Osceola: Leah Mullins (Jr.), Kiersten Martinez (Jr.).
Celebration: Daniela Castano (Soph.), Lexi Stephan (Soph.), Laura Rodriguez (Sr.). Liberty: Alicia Font (Sr.). Gateway: Atar Hajali (Sr.). Poinciana: Estelle Esperance (Soph.).
Honorable mention: Celebration: Jillian Strogis (Sr.), Mariana Villaroel (Jr.). Harmony: Breana Plattner (Fr.), Lindsey Johnson (Fr.), Heidi Mobley (Jr.). Osceola: Claire Tudor (Jr.), Sarah Lambert (Jr.).
Liberty: Diana Ariza (Jr.), Christina MacDonald (Sr.). Gateway: Kaley White (Sr.). St. Cloud: Rebecca Creagen (Sr.), Lynnsey Glunt (Jr.), Megan Lubick (Sr.). Poinciana: Andrea Betancur (Soph.).