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Since fifth grade, Bree Bridges has been a “modern-day center back” who could win physical duels and play out of the back.

At age 10, she squared off with Mya Townes, the 2023 United Soccer Coaches Youth Girls Player of the Year and a future U-20 USWNT member, for the first time. Townes didn’t even know Bridges’ name. She was just “that one center back from PWSI” who knew her every move.

Spin the ball around the center back? Bridges had that covered. Let it go through your legs and run onto it? Better luck next time. If the move worked once, it never worked again. When Townes had her back toward Bridges and the goal, Townes said she couldn’t turn around.

“I remember being probably the most frustrated I’ve ever been as a forward playing against her as a center back,” Townes said.

In eight games so far, Bridges has led Syracuse in minutes played while helping it keep five clean sheets ahead of Atlantic Coast Conference play. Bridges’ calm presence on the ball and defensive toughness will be crucial for Syracuse as it chases its first conference victory since 2022.

Bridges’ club time in Virginia made her the defensive player she is today. When Bridges joined Townes’ team, FC Virginia, in 2021, her coach, Bobby Puppione constantly pitted her against Townes at practice. Bridges’ “bubbly” off-field personality was absent.

“Do you remember the time when I tracked you down?” Bridges said to Townes.

“Do you remember the time when I scored on you?” Townes said back.

Bridges and Townes’ friendship, which included ice cream trips after practice and UNO games, where Bridges was always at the forefront of a +4 Card, only blossomed from there. With it, so did their abilities.

“From day one, we were playing and training just as we had played against each other for the past four years in games,” Townes said. “That never changed throughout the time we got to play together. Those training sessions helped us both.”

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Bridges’ love to win festered from a young age. At daycare, she’d hustle her teachers in Rummy 500 before her mother, Frances Bridges, came to relieve them. Family ping-pong games blurred the lines between fun and feisty.

Yet Bridges didn’t develop a love for winning in soccer until middle school. The reason? The intense competition at Prince William Soccer Inc, a partner club for VDA.

“You’re playing in a very competitive league. You’ve either got to switch on or not,” Frances said. “And I think that’s when she realized, ‘I can’t just come to practice. I got to put the work in outside of practice to get better.’”

Others often thought of Bridges as quiet during that time. Bridges said she was passive. Townes said Bridges knew the answers to all the coaches’ questions but never volunteered herself. Bridges wasn’t as demanding as her teammates and coaches needed her to be. And they let her know.

“They really tasked her with ‘It’s your job to do that. It’s your job to tell them.’ Then she took it seriously, and she started really upping her communication year after year,” Frances said.

The “real” Bridges was on full display during the 2022 U15 Girls Academy Playoffs. FC Virginia shut Lou Fusz SC down in the semifinal, with now-Delaware freshman Lilli Lubic scoring an outrageous half-volley to go through.

In the final, Bridges and Co. recorded another clean sheet against NEFC, setting the stage for Townes to score the winner and secure the U15 Girls Academy Championship. Bridges won U15 MVP.

“She’s a huge reason why we were able to keep our heads in games like that because you look to (Bridges), and she’s cool as a cucumber, but stern — that’s what we needed,” Townes said.

Frances recommended that Bridges go to sleep on June 14, 2023, and the next day — the earliest point NCAA Division I and II colleges can directly contact potential recruits — schools would be in touch.

Instead, Bridges could barely sleep. The first text came in at 12:01 a.m., and then her phone started blowing up. She used a jam-packed Google spreadsheet to organize visits and follow-up calls over the next few days. Syracuse reached out via text early on June 15, and Bridges spoke with them that afternoon.

“This is just the start of the journey. Now we got to keep growing and I think that’s a tough thing for some players,” Puppione said. “They commit and they get excited and then you tend to see a drop-off and they’re not as prepared as possible when they get to college. This was not Bree.”

Bridges returned to VDA in the fall 2024 after most of her FC Virginia teammates left.

“I knew the transition from club to college was going to be completely different. I knew it was going be a lot more intense and demanding, so I definitely wanted to prepare,” Bridges said.

After practice, she’d face now-Stanford freshman and the 2024 United Soccer Coaches Youth Girls Player of the Year, Y-Lan Nguyen, in one-on-one drills to improve her first touch and play out the back.

Whenever both were free, Townes and Bridges ran the Yo-Yo intermittent test, PACER test and 120-yard sprints to satisfy their college fitness packets.

Lacey sent Bridges videos of Chelsea’s 3-5-2 formation under Premier League and Champions League-winning managers Antonio Conte and Thomas Tuchel, respectively. Bridges often turned to NWSL matches, Syracuse spring games, YouTube clips and even lessons with Lacey using magnets and markers.

“As soon as you’re in a back three in terms of spaces and organization, there’s not much room for error,” Lacey said. “You have to get it right. If you don’t get it right, it can become a disaster very quickly.”

The day was Jan. 22, 70 days since Bridges signed with Syracuse.

Before leaving her home, the Manassas, Virginia, native joined a Zoom call with SU head coach Nicky Thrasher Adams and VDA Girls Academy Director Bobby Puppione to discuss Bridges’ expectations for Syracuse.

Adams led the call. Puppione took notes for a “cheat sheet” he’d share with Bridges and her family later on. Bridges and Puppione listened intently, taking turns asking Adams questions.

What are some things players struggled with when they got to Syracuse? What technique should I use to hit long balls? How should I position myself in a back three? What are some of the fitness demands?

Adams’ intention was for Bridges to become the Orange’s anchor in the middle of their new backline.

The 2025 ECNL tournament was Bridges’ final tune-up, but the odds were stacked against her and her team.

They were down to “bare bones,” Lacey said. More than a dozen of their 28 players were available because of college commitments and injuries. Ten minutes into their Round of 16 matchup against the No. 9 seed Legends FC, Nguyen broke her wrist.

Bree Bridges celebrates with her VDA teammates after beating Legends FC in the 2025 ECNL Tournament Round of 16. Bridges stepped up big with a goal in the contest, helping her team advance to the next round. Courtesy of Bobby Puppione

Soon after Nguyen went down, Kentucky commit Kyla Dawn got Legends on the board with a low-driven shot past VDA goalkeeper Chase Rooney. Princeton’s Anna Chau equalized with a well-guided header, but Dawn immediately put Legends back in front.

“It was all about our attitude and finding a way to still win. We had great leaders like Bree that helped the team focus and make the best out of the situation,” former teammate at FC Virginia and VDA Kate Kuzemka said.

With their season on the line, the ball bounced around inside the Legends’ six-yard box.

Who would step up?

It was Bridges who poked it in with her left foot. Moments later, Chau scored again for a 3-2 victory as all of VDA’s younger age groups rushed the field.

“That was the best game I’ve played in a while,” Bridges said.

VDA fell in the next round. Four days later, Bridges was ready to make an impact with the Orange.

The night before SU’s season opener with Charleston Southern, Adams sent out the team’s starting lineup. Bridges saw her name, and she’s never looked back.

“I already knew what was expected of me. I already knew what I needed to do, so I was pretty comfortable,” Bridges said.

Published on September 9, 2025 at 10:14 pm
Contact Quinn: qdpostma@syr.edu | @quinnpostman_