Herndon Earns National Honor, Helps Bulldogs Reach Playoffs

For most sophomore high school players in any sport, earning a national player of the week honor might amount to a career highlight. But when you've already set the school record in scoring – as a freshmen – and notched two goals to lead your team to a state title, such accolades start to seem like small potatoes. 

Such is the life for Ashley Herndon, the unassuming and uber-talented scoring machine for the Stone Bridge girls varsity soccer team. After notching a school-record five goals in a win over South Lakes earlier this year, Herndon was named the Playtex National Player of the Week. Despite the accolades, Herndon remains humble and focused on leading her team to a second straight state title rather than individual achievements.

"It was pretty cool," said the underwhelmed Herndon about the honor. 

Five goals in one game is a remarkable achievement for anyone. But for Herndon, it was just a blip on the radar in a "career" during which she previously scored four goals in one game and tallied 29 goals in a record-setting freshmen year. Showing no signs of a sophomore slump, Herndon once again is leading the Bulldogs in scoring with 22 goals on the season. Stone Bridge coach Joan Windows recognizes how Herndon's singular talent fits within a close-knit team concept.

"Ashley is a natural scorer,” Windows said. “But, she's able to score five goals in one game because we have players like Murielle Tiernan, Emily Fredrikson, and Erin Leonard who are able to get her the ball and play defense."

Herndon, who started playing soccer when she was 7 years old, may have faced her best competition in the backyard, when she regularly faced her brother, Michael Herndon, a freshmen at James Madison University and former starter for the Stone Bridge boys varsity team.

"He's been my biggest supporter, but I never beat him," Ashley Herndon said about their one-on-one matchups growing up.

Despite the national attention, Herndon and her Bulldog teammates remain focused on trying to capture the team's second straight state championship, after last year’s undefeated campaign with a 4-0 state title win over Cosby.

With several key starters returning, including Herndon, Tiernan and Fredrikson, many have picked the Bulldogs as favorites to contend for another state title. For the most part, the team has delivered. Stone Bridge sits atop the Liberty District standings at 11-2-1, and breezed to a 7-0 opening round playoff win over Marshall on Monday night.

Yet injuries and graduation exposed a few kinks in Stone Bridge's armor this season, as they were unable to repeat last year's undefeated season after suffering losses to Chantilly and district rival McLean. But rather than shrinking from the losses, the Bulldogs are looking to those games to reemphasize their focus on teamwork as they continue in the playoffs.

"We really try to work on team chemistry, both on and off the field," Windows said. "You really have to get the girls to buy in to what your doing. We do a lot of team building activities, like laser tag, bowling, and team dinners, and they all help the team build the chemistry and teamwork we're looking for."

While none of the Bulldogs is looking past their early playoff matchups, it's clear they hope to avenge their injury-riddled loss to McLean at the end of the regular season.

"McLean is definitely the team to beat," said Herndon, who scored two goals and added two assists in the win over Marshall.

But Windows said attention would not turn to McLean until the team has success in earlier games.

"We wouldn't see McLean until the district finals, so we are focused on getting to the finals first," the coach said.