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Keeper Quandary

soccerfanatic

soccerfanatic

Active member
ISU is now at the half-way point through the season, and yet several interesting lineup issues remain. The position that still seems to have the most uncertainty is goal keeper. Of the three underclassmen, Bailey Williams seems to have risen to the top in the coach's mind. She is energetic, quick, focused, and has done a good job in the goal, despite having given up 10 goals already this season. Michelle Harrison is a larger presence in the goal and actually has slightly better stats than Williams. Harrison has only given up 1.1 goals per game and has saved an average of 88% of all shots on goal. In comparison, Williams is giving up 1.34 goals per game and is saving only 76% of the shots on goal. Still, the other players and the coaches seem to prefer to see Williams in goal. Harrison played limited minutes in the BYU game; otherwise, has not seen any action in the last several weeks. Maren Eves should be back in the next week or two, and it will be interesting to see what happens then. I noticed that Kat Ford did not even suit up for the last home games. Does anyone know what is happening here? Is she able to redshirt this year? And, if so, does that help the team to have her as a redshirt? As we discussed all preseason, four keepers on a team is unheard of, even on teams with a 30-man roster. I would be afraid that we might loose some disgrunted keepers if they are not taken care of. If they have decided to go with Williams as a back-up to Eves, I would assume that would mean that they are planning on evenutally losing Ford and Harrison (wow... Harrison - Ford, who would have thunk it.) Both would have to assume that they will continue to be backups to Williams in the future unless they make serious improvement. I am curious if anyone knows if the coaches have talked to these players and offered a red-shirt year? Do they want to keep all three after this year? Do we have the best player in goal? What do you think?
 
Is it possible to switch positions in soccer? You know, like in football where you could change from, say, a safety to an RB or a WR to a DB? It'd be great to keep Kat and Harrison here; especially after losing a LOT of personnel last year (including the mind boggling departure of Chelsea Cox)
 
I sure wish it was that easy, but would probably never happen. Harrison has fantastic potential at keeper and could be a real star. Although extremely small for a keeper, Kat is a real hustler on the field. Even though she hasn't played much, you can't beat her stats. Over two years, she as a 0.00 goal against average and a 100% save percentage. (We call that perfection.) It would sure be nice to test her long enough on the field to see if she could keep that up for a complete game (or two or three or more.) It has been so exciting to watch Bailey on the field. I hope there is some way to keep them all happy and bring back all three next year. But that will be tough. It looks like morale is already suffering some. I can't even imagine not being able to help the team through this drought while having to ride the pine.
 
Wow! Do I feel like an idiot. Thanks, Crikey. I had no idea other teams had so many keepers. It was also amazing to look at the number of players on their rosters. EWU (the weakest team in the conference) has 38 on the roster and 4 keepers. They must keep a lot of walk-ons because they can't have that many scholarships. We have 22 players and four keepers. I guess we are not over strong at keeper, just weak on field players. The difference is all 18 of our field players are of starter quality.

Also, if you think in terms of football and basketball, a great number of talented players all over the country are recruited and never make it beyond the status of backup. Still, they hang with the team and reap the benefit of scholarship money. Our backup keepers have a good deal here at ISU. Plus, when coach recruited them, she was only expecting three on the roster this year. And with the number of injuries you see to keepers, that number is very reasonable.
 
Williams plays like Eves but as Fanatic pointed out way earlier it is an odd way to play - like a defensive player with gloves. That seems what the coach wants - too bad Harrison appears to be a classic trained keeper and the coaches (another bungle-waist a scholarship) new or should have known that. Its like having a pro style quarterback in an option offense. Too Bad for her because she could have went elsewhere and maybe sat for a year but then got in at a bigger schools. Dont know what she will do but interesting her web site said she had pneumonia 9-03-08 and was out so dont know anymore than that and what effect that has had (http://www.gomichelle.com). Kat sorry she has played a little and she is just too small -williams I think is the smallestest starting goalie in the league.
Again there are so many items and issues here.
Strangely the BSC is still up for grabs
 
So we can't train Harrison, with that height and size, to be some kind of enforcer? You know, somebody who can deliver punishment to the other team? And Kat can't become a Taylor Powell like player, with speed and aggressiveness? I think it could be done. Don't tell me soccer is THAT specialized. I refuse to believe that. Cuz if that's the case, that's BS. You can convert WR's to TE's, safeties to RB's and DB's to WR's.

The idea is, I'm thinking ahead here. They could still both be trained in keeper tactics and whatnot. In case Bailey goes down, either can step in and Ali could rotate them to whatever needs the team needs (say we need some speed. Kat goes and does field duty while Michelle does keeper duties. Or say that we need some physical play. Send Kat to the goalie area and send Michelle to kick people's asses).
 
And I say this because I have no doubt in my mind that Bailey is a great keeper. She's tough and dedicated, yo!

BTW, Tchaikovsky rocks! The 1812 Overture is truly a moving piece. That was random, but w/e
 
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