Bree struck the decisive goal in a see-sawing Cup tie as Saints eventually won 3-2.
Taylor Harwood-Bellis amd Adam Armstrong had Saints 2-0 ahead before Stoke fought back through goals from Ashley Phillips and Tom Cannon.
Bree then popped up to find a winner for Southampton.
The fullback later said: "I think obviously I'm buzzing, buzzing to get another goal.
"And then to get the win on the board. But I think a little bit frustrated as well, I think all the boys are a bit frustrated with how the game turned out.
"We were so dominant for the first 40 minutes and then we let a sloppy goal in. Then we came out again playing well but obviously let them back into it.
"We know that we're better that but, like I said, a win's a win at the end of the day so we'll go onto the weekend and see what happens."
He also told the club's website: "I think (the win) is good for confidence, obviously the performance at (Manchester) City at the weekend was really good. The result obviously wasn't what we wanted but we played really well, caused some problems. So I think the lads were confident going into this game.
"Obviously not quite the performance in the end but the result was definitely what I wanted so we can take that forward and hopefully build on that."