Vikings' Rose gets offensive nod

 As if there was any doubt that White Oak's Stephanie Rose would be proclaimed the area's top offensive soccer player.

That is except for Rose.

When informed she was named The Daily News Offensive Player of the Year for the 2008 season, the junior forward appeared taken back, admitting she didn't think she was eligible for the award.

"There are a lot of great players in this area, especially on offense," said Rose. "It didn't even cross my mind, but it is exciting."

Rose was an obvious choice for the honor as voted on by the coaches and The Daily News sports staff after she led the area in scoring with 44 goals and 17 assists to direct the Vikings to their third consecutive NCHSAA 3-A championship.

Her 105 points was 30 better than the next high scorer. Quite impressive when you consider the volume of talented squads White Oak faced en route to a 21-1-1 season and a 4-0 victory over T.C. Roberson in the state final. Rose, an all-stater for the last two seasons, earned Most Valuable Player honors in the title game after recording a goal and an assist.

"I thought Stephanie had an excellent season," said Vikings head coach Buddy Carroll. "She really had to adjust to being our go-to person this year and I think she did a good job controlling what happened.

"I have a lot of praise for her."

Carroll has good reason for that since one could consider Rose's latest season as her coming out year. Though a key contributor in White Oak's previous two state crowns, the speedy Rose was not relied upon to be the No. 1 scoring threat until the graduation of three-time Offensive Player and four-time all-state performer Tandy Banks.

But by the conclusion of this season, Rose is now in her own category and out of Banks' shadow.

"We talked at the beginning of the season about her being willing to accept this role and move forward," Carroll recalled. "We talked about how we knew teams would focus on her and what she needed to be able to do and we talked about her being dedicated to leading and Stephanie really got into that."

Months later and Carroll has no complaints.

"Stephanie was able to let the game develop for herself and let it come to her," he said. "She did an excellent job, she really grew up and became that leader we so badly needed."

Rose looked to her former teammate Banks as a tool.

"I think playing with Tandy helped because I was able to see her and see how she led the team and stepped up to be a leader," Rose said. "I knew I had to step up and fill that position of being that leader and I wanted to do well in it.

"It did put a little pressure on myself, but I knew I had to come very game prepared because I didn't want to let the team down."

Rose displayed that approach by scoring several clutch goals, despite going against constant multiple coverage. And while her speed played a big role in separating herself from defenders and often finding herself one-on-one with the goalkeeper, Rose acknowledged other things that made her an ever bigger threat.

"I worked a lot on my ball control, turning and facing and taking people on," she said. "I also worked on my shot. It's still not as good as I want it so I am hoping next season I will perfect it."

And though Rose appeared to score this season whenever she wanted, she also stressed that she wouldn't have had a solid season if not for her teammates. She credited her comrades for not only feeding playable passes, but also for chipping in with scoring to take away some of the pressure.

"It doesn't matter who scores as long as someone does score," Rose said. "I think I'm a good team player and when we have practice or games I always try to talk positive and keep everyone's heads up if we are not doing great."