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The Breakers put out their list of players to whom they’d offered new contracts or on whom they’d exercised options last week. One of those players was midfielder Stephanie Verdoia, who re-signed with the team today. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, as per “team and league policy.”
Verdoia was selected by Boston in the 2015 NWSL College Draft in the fourth round, going #29 overall. In 2016 she started five of 10 games for 453 minutes, with six shots total. That’s definite bump over 2015, when she started one of eight games for 186 minutes with three shots. Breakers head coach Matt Beard seems to rate Verdoia more than old HC Tom Durkin, keeping her on as a central attacking mid.
"Stephanie has a good soccer brain,” Beard said via e-mail. “She makes good unselfish runs which creates space for her teammates and she has a great work ethic.”
That doesn’t mean Verdoia’s spot or playing time is assured, obviously. When asked about his plans on how he might play Verdoia next season, Beard wrote, “Like anyone in the team, players will be picked on merit as we look to improve our roster for 2017."
Could Verdoia be vying for a starting spot? It’s obviously way too soon to tell, with the roster in flux and the 2017 college draft in a couple of months, but you could probably at least say that Verdoia will remain a solid bench option.