Freshman keeper shows poise in Penn debut

If the Penn women's soccer team's season opener against Rice was going to come down to a battle of the goalies, the Quakers may have looked like clear underdogs.

After all, Penn freshman Cailly Carroll had yet to play a collegiate game, while Owls goalkeeper Amy McClintock had three years of college soccer and a full month of the 2006 season under her belt.

But in the end, the stat sheet told the tale of a complete stalemate that resulted in a scoreless draw.

Both goalies finished the 110-minute, double-overtime game with six saves and numerous flashy, disaster-averting plays.

The Owls tested Carroll early and often, getting off 14 shots and earning six corner kicks. Although Penn didn't challenge Rice quite as much - it managed just 11 shots and four corners - Carroll and McClintock seemed to one-up each other on nearly every opportunity.

Carroll won near the goal line; McClintock aptly charged a streaking Penn forward. For every one-on-one breakaway that McClintock quelled, Carroll answered by corralling a direct shot from short range. But despite her brilliant performance, Carroll was anything but calm for her first start.

"I was so nervous that I had to settle myself down," Carroll said. "Once that happened, everything worked out."

These initial freshman jitters are to be expected, but coach Darren Ambrose believes that once she moved past this anxiousness, Carroll brought a youthful quality to the position that older, more experienced keepers often lack.

This quality?

"Ignorance," Ambrose said. "She knows no different.

"She showed so much poise and maturity for a freshman in goal. . She only had to make one or two difficult saves, but she made them. And that's the difference between winning and losing tight games like that."

Carroll's poise may have come as a pleasant surprise to Ambrose, but for McClintock, one of the team's veterans and elder statesmen, it is expected. However, McClintock's 'senior' label may be a bit misleading in terms of game experience, as this is her first year starting in goal. Before this season, she had not even recorded a save in her collegiate career.

While McClintock showed the leadership of a four-year starter - she commanded and directed her backline like a pro - this relative inexperience shined through on a couple of occasions. Twenty-nine minutes into the second half, McClintock hung back on a slowly bouncing ball she should have played more aggressively, and Penn nearly netted the game-winner.

The draw was a good result for the Quakers at this stage in the season, considering Rice made the NCAA Tournament last year. But perhaps even more comforting for the Red and Blue is this: in a game against a highly-regarded team with a senior in goal, its freshman came off as the more composed keeper.

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