Posted by Jay Stancil - Wed, Oct 26, 2005 - [Women's Soccer] - Viewed 464 times
It’s one of those milestones that is an amazing feat to reach, but yet it’s one you would hope you wouldn’t have to.
Union College goalkeeper Becki Woodworth recorded her 600th career save recently when she made 11 stops in Saturday’s 4-0 loss at Bethel (Tenn.) College. A great accomplishment to be sure, but it’s one that the London, Ky. native readily puts into perspective.
“It’s good that I’ve made that many saves, but I wish I didn’t have to though,” said Woodworth, who now has 621 career saves. She made 19 in Tuesday’s 5-2 win over Tennessee Wesleyan College.
In 16 games this season, Woodworth has a 2.149 goals-against average with 122 saves and five shutouts as Union has gone 11-5 overall.
In a way, it is kind of ironic that Woodworth made her 600th save in the same season that teammate Alessandra Tavoloni netted her 100th career goal. After all, if a team is scoring goals, conventional wisdom would lead you to believe that the pressure would be off the defense.
But while it might be ironic for a team to have a pair of players to reach those milestones in the same season, it isn’t rare – at least not for Union. In 2001, Juliana Filipe, now the Lady Bulldogs head coach, reached the 100-goal plateau while teammate Jeri Cook made her 600th save. Filipe and Cook rank first in program history with 145 goals and 661 saves, respectively.
With Woodworth joining the 600-save club, Union has craved itself a pretty unique spot in collegiate soccer history. The Lady Bulldogs are only the third program in collegiate history – all divisions, both genders, to have two players record 600 saves. Only NCAA Division I Manhattan (N.Y.) College and NCAA Division III Baldwin-Wallace (Ohio) College can make that claim.
However, Union is the first program to have produced two 100-goal scorers and two goalkeepers with 600-plus saves.
Being a goalkeeper is arguably one of the most thankless jobless in sports. Much like an offensive lineman in football, the majority doesn’t pay attention to a goalkeeper until they’ve made a mistake.
Filipe credits Woodworth’s determination for her becoming one of the top goalkeepers in the NAIA.
“She doesn’t have a goalkeeper coach. I’m not a goalkeeper coach,” the Union coach admitted. “Every practice we have game preparation drills that helps her see what could happen in real game situations. We practice as a team for her.”
Since the flow of the game varies, Woodworth said maintaining focus throughout the game is a battle.
“The hardest thing is being ready all the time. There are times that I won’t have a shot fired my way for 20 minutes or more,” she said. “I make it a (personal) competition – me versus them. It’s my job to stop the ball.”
To help keep herself in the game, Woodworth directs traffic, constantly shouting instructions to her teammates.
“I talk all the time even if the ball’s on the other side of the field,” she elaborated. “That way, even though I’m not in the game physically, I’m in it mentally, always aware of what’s going on.”
And if the ball were to get past her for a goal, Woodworth makes no excuses. According to her way of thinking, no ball should ever get by her.
“I know there are times when people say that a goal wasn’t my fault because of this or that, but I don’t buy that,” Woodworth said. “It’s my job to stop the ball and to not let the other team score.”
During her career, Woodworth has racked up plenty of highlights and has virtually seen it all.
“I have experienced everything you possibly could in college soccer,” she said.
The highlights include:
Making back-to-back trips to the NAIA National Championship Tournament,
Advancing to the NAIA Final Four in 2002,
Finishing the 2002 season with the team ranked No. 1 in the NAIA,
Being named to the All-Conference Team and All-Region Team twice,
Earning NAIA All-American honorable mention honors in 2003,
Posting four 20-plus save games,
Recording 28 career shutouts,
Setting school records for saves in a game (28) and in a season (249).
“I wouldn’t trade (my time here at Union) for anything,” Woodworth said. “I was able to come in as a freshman and play every day. Plus, I get to see my teammates everyday, whether it’s game day or not. If I went to a (NCAA) Division I school, I probably wouldn’t see my teammates except on game day or at practices. Here (at Union), we see each other all the time. We’re a family.”
The 2004 season really showed what Woodworth was capable of doing in goal. Decimated by injuries, Union was forced to go the majority of the season with just 11 players, meaning there was no one to sub in for anyone. On a couple of times, the injury bug took a big bite out of the team, and the Lady Bulldogs played with just 10.
Consequently, the pressure was intense on Woodworth. Yet, she was more than rose to the occasion.
“Last year was a huge year for her,” Filipe said. “She really had to step up. If it wasn’t for her, we wouldn’t have had as good as we were without her.”
Woodworth posted a school record 249 saves and had four games of 20-plus saves to help Union to a 9-9-1 overall record. In addition, she posted 71 saves during a three-game stretch. During that span, she set the school record for saves in a game with 28, which ranks second in NAIA history.
Still, there is so much more to Woodworth than her prowess in goal. She is a scholar-athlete, earning Academic All-Conference Team honors twice and being named to a 2004 Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete. Woodworth sports a 4.0 grade-point average and is on pace to be the valedictorian at graduation in May.
What makes her classroom work so amazing is that her life is so much more than just books and soccer. Woodworth is the student body president, a tutor and a supplemental instructor.
Oh, she’s also a member of the Lady Bulldog basketball team.
“It’s amazing how she manages her time between school, practice and everything,” Filipe said.
Woodworth added, “I’m the type of person that has to be doing something all the time. I like to stay busy. I wouldn’t know what to do if I wasn’t.”
The mathematics and secondary education major said “knowing your priorities” is the key to balancing such a hectic schedule.
“I schedule everything. I’d be lost without my planner,” Woodworth said. “I always know where I need to be and when I need to be there.”
Right now, her schedule has her penciled in to be in Kansas in mid-November. Woodworth’s hoping to confirm that has she and the Lady Bulldogs attempt to make their third trip to the NAIA National Championship Tournament in four years.
It’s one of those milestones that is an amazing feat to reach, but yet it’s one you would hope you wouldn’t have to.
