Throughout a season in which Stephanie deLaforcade broke the Eastern Connecticut Conference single-season record for girls’ soccer with 42, adding 32 selfless assists, there was one thing that stood out to East Lyme High School coach Rachel Redding about her senior star.

“For her to be the same person at the end of the season as she was at the beginning of the season is a neat quality,” Redding said. “If you put the record aside, if she could score one goal or 10 goals, she was going to work her butt off that game and do whatever it took to make her team win.

“As a human being, she didn’t need the record. What she does as a person and a teammate is what really matters. (The record) is not who she is. Anyone who knows her knows that.”

DeLaforcade, a first team Class L all-state selection who signed to play beginning next season with the University of Maryland, was named The Day’s 2016 All-Area Girls’ Soccer Player of the Year.

Her 42 goals broke the league record of 41, set by former Waterford All-American Katie Schoepfer in 2005. DeLaforcade scored No. 42 in typical fashion, too, without much of an angle, coming across the field to her left, yet shooting with her right foot into the right corner of the net in East Lyme’s second-round state tournament loss to Joel Barlow.

The Vikings finished 17-2-1 with the ECC Division I title and their fourth conference tournament championship in the last five seasons.

DeLaforcade started her career as a midfielder, being named East Lyme’s 12th player of the year two straight seasons before moving to her spot at forward as a junior and responding with 30 goals.

She figures she owes her work ethic to older brothers Alex and Ryan — “even if I didn’t want to play, they did,” she said. There was barely any time spent inside growing up. Her mom, Sue, would even take deLaforcade to run a mile or so outside before her band concerts growing up (she played the trumpet), allowing her to sit still more readily.

She kept that same workmanlike attitude into her high school career. If she thought there was something she could fix, she worked on it, sometimes in her backyard, sometimes back on the artificial turf at East Lyme’s Dick North Field.

“It’s not my job, it’s my passion. I really love it. Once I realized it, I put more time into it,” deLaforcade said. “All the work I did in the offseason, after games or practices … I said, ‘What am I doing well? What can I improve?’ I’ve been doing that for the past couple years. I said, ‘If you’re looking for colleges, this is where I need to improve.’

“To me, in practice, work hard, put in the effort. You practice the way you play. In practice I worked hard and I hoped to take that and have fun with it.”

As a senior, deLaforcade played with a great sense of responsibility, making it her goal to pass the ball to anyone on the team who hadn’t yet scored. She apologized to Redding following the Vikings’ final loss. But deLaforcade also played with great joy, making it look easy at times.

"I think you’re born with it,” said Redding of deLaforcade’s will to succeed. “You see something at one point in your life and you have that drive. I think there’s special people in the world that have that drive and utilize it and make it great.

“… The people who are around it right now will understand. She’s an amazing person and a great player. When (Schoepfer, who went on to play for Penn State and professionally for the Boston Breakers) had this record, people looked and went ‘wow.’ I hope someday people look at Steph and go, ‘Wow.’ Forty-two goals. Who does that? I hope her college career is the best she could ever imagine. I hope her high school career is the best she could ever imagine.”

DeLaforcade’s journey to Maryland and the Big 10 Conference took a circuitous route. She was headed to play at Northeastern for coach Tracey Leone, whose husband Ray was the head women’s coach at Harvard. In January, however, Ray Leone was named head coach at Maryland; the same day, Tracey announced her resignation from Northeastern.

Ray Leone crossed paths with deLaforcade at a premier tournament in Pennsylvania. The two exchanged emails and he offered deLaforcade a spot on the team. She committed to Maryland in June.

“The atmosphere was something I had not seen on any other campus,” deLaforcade said. “The girls were all energetic and so positive. It got me super-pumped for it.”

DeLaforcade plans to major in health science. At East Lyme, she’s vice president of the senior class and, in addition to her recognition in soccer, was a Class M all-state pick last season in lacrosse, finishing with 55 goals and 21 assists in helping the Vikings to their 10th straight ECC tournament title.

This fall, in which the ECC scoring record fell, is one deLaforcade says she will remember. But not for the reason you might think.

“My friends, my family members, the teachers, were all saying ‘good luck tonight, I hope you score a few,’” deLaforcade said. “That’s one season that’s going to stand out in my mind … knowing that other people believed in me.”

v.fulkerson@theday.com

The Day's 2016 All-Area Girls' Soccer Team

Player of the Year — Stephanie deLaforcade (East Lyme)

Forward — Kara Bassett (St. Bernard), Mya Johnson (Old Lyme), Jenna Peduzzi (Old Lyme)

Midfield — Berkeley Callaghan (East Lyme), Keelin Hurtt (Old Lyme), Mackenzie Northcutt (East Lyme), Rachel Marchini (Montville)

Defense — Hannah Belleville (East Lyme), Lainnie Connor (Stonington), Jaclyn Lavoie (Waterford)

Goalie — Hayley Sorrentino (East Lyme)

Utility — Caleigh O'Neil (Old Lyme)