What's it like being a lacrosse goalie? Three of LI's top girls keepers take us inside their mindset

Some players become a lacrosse goalie because they want to be the final line of defense. Some like the power and the rush of frustrating an opponent to no end. And sometimes, they're just thrown into the position. 

Maya Soskin remembers being in a team huddle when the coach, who was her father, asked for a volunteer. Soskin raised her hand but there was only one problem. The third-grader didn’t actually know what she was volunteering for.

“I definitely wasn’t totally paying attention,” Soskin said. 

But just like that, Soskin became a goalie in elementary school. At that age, the team didn’t have a traditional goalie stick. Soskin played with her regular lacrosse stick, but she was special from the start.

“I remember going home and my dad being like, ‘That was incredible, I’ve never seen anyone pick up something so quick,’ ” said Soskin, now a junior goalie for Cold Spring Harbor. “Then I just realized it was something I had to keep doing because it was so much fun for me.”

For many of Long Island's top lacrosse goalies, there are similar stories of volunteering to play goalie at a young age because few others wanted to. Most players dream of scoring goals and are unsurprisingly less thrilled by the idea of just being pummeled by shots all game and practice.

“It was definitely one of those things where nobody wanted to do it and I’ve always been one of those people that doesn’t do what everyone else does,” Soskin said. “I’ll kind of go the opposite way.”

St. Anthony's senior goalie Lexi Zenk found herself in a similar situation. 

“No one really wanted to play and I’m sure I enjoyed the fact of not running,” she said with a laugh. “But I just really like the adrenaline of being able to do something that can really be the difference in the game.”

Many similarities make up a strong goalie. Toughness, vocal leadership, agility and quick reflexes are some of the main physical traits. But mental toughness and a short memory are just as important at a position where a 50% success rate is well above average.

“I feel it’s more mental than physical because yeah, if I get hit with a ball, it hurts, but only for like a second,” said Longwood senior goalie Abigail Warner. “But when a ball would go in, you have to have that mental mindset of getting past it completely and just focus on that next shot.”

“You can’t be insecure in your ability,” Zenk said. “You have to be so secure to the point where if you let in a goal, you have to say, ‘OK, fine, but that’s not going to happen again.’ ”

Sometimes that can be easier said than done. Soskin admitted that she struggled when she was younger with the difficulties of playing goalie. With elite offensive talent all over Long Island, playing goalie is one of the most challenging positions on the field.

“You have to give yourself some time to realize that what you’re doing is kind of crazy and sometimes it’s an isolating position,” Soskin said. “Being able to give time for yourself and focus on yourself is huge.”

Unlike every other position on the field, only one goalie plays at a time. Zenk compared the goalie to a quarterback in football, but the goalie is controlling the defense.

“As a goalie, you are the eyes and the ears of the entire defense and as a quarterback, he is the eyes of the entire field,” Zenk said. “He sees the wide receivers down the field, he sees if a guy is coming to rush him, he sees all of this and can help direct what’s going on. And I feel that’s such an important role of the goalie to direct and have control and a presence on the defense.”

And like a quarterback, the goalie will have a fair share of bumps and bruises after tougher contests. For Warner, that’s a badge of honor.

“Even when we get a nasty bruise, it sits with us like a trophy, like a good thing, not a bad thing,” Warner said. “Especially when we win a game and I get 10 bruises, I’m fine. I’m totally cool with that.”

Every team needs a goalie, but whereas any lacrosse player would likely sign up to play a position like attack and focus primarily on goals and assists, it takes a vastly different personality to stand in the cage.

“Every goalie that I know, I think there’s definitely something there that’s a little different from everyone else to even try it in the first place,” Soskin said. “I think it’s one of those things where if you are the right type of person and you get that first save, it’s just one of those things you can’t stop doing. It’s just so addicting.”

There’s often mutual respect among goalies. Of course, they want to get the best of one another during the game, but afterward, they’ll often seek one another out in reverence.

“I feel the talent on Long Island for goalies is so high, just incredibly high, and I know that 100%,” Warner said. “I’ll talk to a lot of them after the game and just say, ‘What an amazing game,’ and we just compliment each other. I feel it’s so easy for us goalies to get along because we all have this crazy mindset.”