Field hockey goalies relish season in cage
Are field hockey goalies made or born? Well, probably a little bit of both.
Seniors Cammy Foster of Needham, Sabrina Ryan of Dover-Sherborn and Paige Gillette of Andover are three of the state’s most accomplished goalies, and all three were recruited into the position before their sophomore season, either from another spot or another sport, getting hooked immediately.
FIELD HOCKEY
They have also spent the last three years honing their craft, and finding out that it takes a special breed to strap on the foam pads.
“Everyone says goalkeepers are crazy, and it’s definitely true,” said Gillette.
The threesome are multisport athletes that have managed to thrive in their relatively new pursuits quickly as their teams lost just six times in 54 regular season games last fall. Ryan backstopped the Raiders to the Division 2 state title, allowing three goals in six postseason contests. Gillette helped the Golden Warriors to the Div. 1 North crown before falling to the same controversial co-ed Somerset Berkley squad that knocked out Foster’s Rockets in the South sectional.
You might think the top traits in the cage are things like elite coordination or the ability to react swiftly. And while those are certainly needed, the most valuable skills for a field hockey goalie to possess, according to the trio, have nothing to do with athleticism.
First and foremost, strong communication.
“You need to be OK with being a little bit of a commander on the team,” said Ryan. “The goalie is the furthest person back. I can see everything on the field. I need to be able to say to one of my defenders, ‘You cover
her, you drop back, you go forward.’ You have to be OK with telling people what to do, not in a way that they are doing anything wrong, just giving direction.”
“You have to be really supportive to your defense and you have to communicate a lot,” said Foster. “You can’t be afraid to raise your voice and control the defense.”
Another key attribute is mental toughness. When you play for an upper-echelon program, of which Andover, D-S and Needham undoubtedly qualify, goalies can frequently go long stretches — even entire games — where they see little to no action.
That may seem easy, but it requires discipline to remain engaged instead of just sitting in the proverbial rocking chair for much of the game.
“Sometimes I’m like, alright, let’s let them get something,” said Gillette. “That’s why it’s important to talk because you have to make sure that you are staying in the game at all times because even if you are not getting shots you are still a big part of the team’s success
because you can see the field better than anyone else.”
“The games where I typically play the worst is when I’ve had the least amount of shots because I put a lot of pressure on myself,” said Ryan. “My team is working so hard this game and I’ve barely had any shots, it’s important that I save this. That’s the hardest piece, I think. It’s important for me to stay composed, for me to know that my team is working hard so I have to work even harder because each save means a lot more.”
Those periods of inactivity took some adjustment for Foster, who also plays goalie in lacrosse for Needham, where bids come at a much more frequent pace.
“The way that the momentum of a field hockey game can swing in an instant, I try to stay hyper-focused, cheering on my teammates when they are in the offensive zone even though they probably can’t hear me,” said Foster. “Sometimes you don’t really see a lot of shots so you don’t get a lot of chances to redeem yourself. There could be three shots, and you could let in two of
them.”
And, of course, there are the quirks of the position. The first thing to pop into one’s mind when they picture a field hockey goalie is lumbering around in oversize equipment. Yes, it can be as awkward as it looks.
“I was very clumsy at first,” said Ryan. “It was funny. I was like, how am I going to do this, our first game was coming up in a few weeks when I first started. But you get used to it.”
“The hardest part is getting it all back in the bag after the game,” joked Gillette.
There is also the signature thump that occurs when a goalie clears the ball by booting it out of the circle.
“I love that sound,” said Ryan. “That’s how I know it’s going to be a good one.”
“I played soccer before I was a goalie so I had the kicking down,” said Foster. “Even when you just tap it, it rockets out.”
This fall, life as a field hockey goalie is a little bit different with the sport modifications due to COVID-19 concerns, with the biggest changes being
7-on-7 play and the elimination of penalty corners.
One thing that’s certain is that goalies won’t miss the corners, typically the most chaotic moments for those in the cage as the most dangerous scoring opportunities for the opposition. The tradeoff, however, is having less players on the field and often just one defender, leading to an increase in dreaded breakaways.
“With 7v7 you are going to have more shots, more 3-on1s, more breakaways,” said Gillette. “You just have to trust your instincts. It’s harder, but that’s the stuff that I love.”
Stuck on the sidelines
Entering the weekend, each of the reigning state champions had yet to play this year.
For Ryan and her DoverSherborn teammates, the delay is a minor one. The Tri-Valley League already began a little behind many of
the other leagues in Eastern Mass., but the Raiders were pushed back an extra week as their first two games — the TVL implemented a home-and-home weekend schedule — were postponed when Dedham had to shut down briefly after a spike in COVID-19 cases in the town. D-S was due to open up on Saturday by hosting Norwood.
It will be a longer wait for two-time Div. 1 champ Somerset Berkley as it is a member of the South Coast Conference, which elected to move all fall sports to the Fall II window from Feb. 22 to April 25. Those Raiders are likely to struggle to continue the level of dominance it demonstrated over the last few years after the graduation of Lucas Crook and Alex Millar, but do return one of the state’s most talented performers in Providencebound Cami Crook and were no doubt eager for the opportunity to silence their many critics.