WBR’s fourth and final segment previewing the 2013 Creighton women’s soccer team spotlights the most important, but also the youngest, position on the team: the Goalkeepers. Read all the previews here.
Katie Jo Swanson proved to be one of the most consistent parts of the 2012 Creighton women’s soccer team. While she wasn’t always the most vocal player in net, the senior was a great shot stopper, and gave the Bluejays a chance to win most of their games. Swanson stopped 101 shots on the season, good for 4th all-time in a single season at CU. She also tied and set Morrison Stadium records for saves (59) and minutes played (959) in a single season.
The task of replacing Swanson in net falls on the shoulders of true freshman Danielle Rice. At 5-foot-11, the keeper out of Westlake, Texas, possesses the size and athleticism she’ll need to rely on early in the season while she develops into more of a vocal leader for the four defenders in front of her.
“The thing [Danielle] has going in her advantage is there is no fear factor with her. She’s very confident,” said head coach Bruce Erickson. “She’s very much a presence. We just want her to assert that a lot more. Obviously her size and athleticism allows her to be a very courageous goalkeeper, and really gives us that presence we need. The goal against NDSU was something that could’ve been solved with just a little communication, and with the experience she’s getting with every practice and every session is going to eventually pay off. We recruited her to come in and play right away if she could prove herself, and she has.”
Battling for the backup spot at goalkeeper will be redshirt freshman Kyla Salazar and true freshman Michaela Moen. Both keepers saw a lot of shots come their way in the Blue-White scrimmage earlier this month. Right now they both appear to have separated themselves from each other in a few areas; Salazar has a better presence in net with her communication and experience, while Moen is the better shot stopper of the two. That ability has given Moen, who like Rice also comes to Creighton via the state of Texas, the first chance should Rice go down with an injury.
Still, the competition is open for the #2 spot behind Rice. As for the starting spot, Erickson is hoping to deploy Rice just like he did with Swanson last season.
“We’re inexperienced back there so it’s hard to say we’re going to play both just because of that. We really have to build up [Danielle] first and hope she stays healthy, and we’ll let a lot of the experience that Michaela’s going to get come from the practice sessions.”
Going all the way back to 1990 Creighton has never started a freshman goalkeeper, so no matter what happens to Rice this group of keepers will be exploring previously uncharted territory for Creighton women’s soccer. They open the season on the road this Friday in a 5 p.m. game against Utah State.