'Goalkeeping isn’t just about shot-stopping': The evolving role of keepers in the NWSL
From sweeper keepers to positional experts, The Cutback takes a closer look at goalkeeping across the league.
Last weekend’s NWSL matches saw some eye-popping goalkeeping performances.
Katie Atkinson stood up to a shelling from Orlando Pride, making 10 saves and almost dragging her Chicago Stars side to a result. Meanwhile, Seattle Reign’s Claudia Dickey made a career-high eight saves in her return from injury. Goalkeeping performances like these can be as exciting as a hat-trick performance from a striker.
Atkinson’s 10 saves would have single-handedly secured a point for her overmatched team were it not for Julie Doyle’s 88th-minute winner. Orlando were by far the more threatening team all game, even without star forward Barbra Banda, but homed in on Atkinson when taking their shots, making her was more about consistency in shot-stopping and good positioning than making athletic saves — her excellent diving stop against Marta’s penalty kick excluded.
“She’s always been a great shot-stopper,” former USWNT goalkeeper Jill Loyden told The Cutback, referring to Atkinson. “There’s been marginal gains in other areas, but just in terms of Chicago, I think that’s what they need because they’re at a severe talent deficit.”
Different teams ask their keepers to do different things. Loyden thought Dickey was the most impressive goalkeeper last season because of how she fit into Seattle’s low block system.
“[Seattle] made it really incredibly difficult for opponents to find space in and around the box, so a lot of times opponents would get so frustrated that they would just shoot any kind of half chance from distance. She’s the most athletic goalkeeper in the league, so she was able to make a lot of saves from those positions,” Loyden said, adding that Dickey is very strong at cleaning crosses and kicking long balls. She doesn’t think Seattle would have made the playoffs without Dickey.
Dickey’s athleticism was on full display in her performance against the San Diego Wave on Sunday. San Diego were finding the corners with their shots last weekend, but Dickey was up to the challenge, diving and leaping with great agility to guard her net.
Dickey’s job was made harder by Seattle’s low block being nowhere near as effective as it was last season, and many of the shots Dickey faced were from close range. Seattle are on the playoff bubble this year and Dickey’s return will be key for Laura Harvey’s side as they seek to cement their place in the post-season.
Racing Louisville stopper Jordyn Bloomer also put in an impactful shift on Sunday, as her five stops helped power her side to their first win since May. Louisville went up 2-0 on Angel City in the 55th minute thanks to a Maja Lardner brace, but the bottom-of-the-table side have a tendency to give up late goals and drop points.
Bloomer did let Angel City’s star striker Sveindís Jónsdóttir score through her legs on a breakaway in the 80th minute but when push came to shove, she held strong. In stoppage time, Ally Sentnor headed a ball toward the bottom corner and Bloomer came up with a massive diving save to secure all three points for Louisville.
“Racing possesses the ball less than any other team in the whole league, so they don’t really need Jordyn Bloomer to be good possession; they need her to stop shots,” Loyden said.
Bloomer hasn’t had a great season, but the times that Louisville have picked up points have often come during her better performances. Wednesday night proved her fallibility, conceding five goals in the space of 47 minutes against Kansas City Current.
The roles of Bloomer, Atkinson, and even Dickey are not very possession-oriented, unlike how Gotham keeper Ann-Katrin Berger plays.
Gotham is tied with the Washington Spirit for the fewest goals allowed this season, and Loyden says there’s far more to it for Gotham than Berger’s shot-stopping.
“She’s very well-rounded and she can do everything. It affords Gotham’s centre-backs to play super high and be very aggressive because Berger feels comfortable sweeping in behind,” she said. “Once Gotham get into a lower block, the space becomes around the outside and Berger’s really good at protecting the goal area, claiming and impacting crosses.”
Washington Spirit have a less experienced player manning the posts. Clemson Tigers alum Sandy MacIver has capably stepped into Aubrey Kingsbury’s shoes for the Spirit while she is out on parental leave, playing a very different role to the likes of Bloomer.
Loyden compares the Spirit this year to Spain’s men’s World Cup team: a stellar defence requiring only the occasional save from the keeper. The Scotland international took a few games to heat up, but has become dependable when called upon. “She might only get one to two opportunities a game to make a save, and she’s been doing it,” Loyden said. “I think she’s very reliable. The same as Unai Simón from Spain — you have to make that one save one time a game, and I think she’s reliable to do that.”
Other teams in the league have new faces between the posts this season but aren’t finding as much success in the position as Washington. Brazil international Lorena, who was a great shot-stopper for Kansas City last year, has been injured for much of this season, and replacement Marisa Jordan hasn’t been as strong.
San Diego made the baffling decision to part with Kailen Sheridan in the offseason and have been juggling a rotation of sub-par keepers ever since. Sandra Paños started in Sunday’s 2-0 defeat to Seattle Reign, making her the fourth goalkeeper to feature for the Wave this season. Leah Freeman has played six matches, DiDi Haracic has featured in seven games and Luisa Agudelo has started in three.
The Utah Royals haven’t changed their keeper from last season, Mandy McGlynn, but Loyden thinks she’s been far more consistent this year than before. The Royals are having by far the best season they’ve ever had, and it’s no coincidence.
“She has grown into the position really well and acclimated to the amount of pressure that she feels at the [U.S.] women’s national team,” Loyden said. “I think that she’s started to play more within herself this season. Some of the passes that she delivers, no one else on the earth is doing that. And she has, equally, I think, been good defensively.”
In a Shield race as tight as this season’s, goalkeeping can make all the difference, and worth keeping an eye on, in all its facets.
“Mostly everybody at this level is at least an average shot-stopper. So my thought process is: ‘How can I prevent the opposition from getting a touch in that arc of the field [where the highest xG shots come from]?” Loyden explained.
“I can do that through communication, which no stat will ever show. I can do that through preventative positioning. I can do that through a variety of final actions and space defence outside the box. And I can do that with defending the goal area: the crosses. And the last thing is keeping the ball; if your team has the ball, the opponent can’t score.”
As with everything in football, Loyden knows that goalkeeping is a group effort as much as it’s an individual skill.
“Goalkeeping isn’t just about shot-stopping. How can I stop the opponent from getting into that position in the first place?”
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