Women’s Soccer Gets a New Goalie

By: Ciera Sesock

Ashley Todd, ‘21 knows the feeling of greatness being able to score a goal during a high school soccer game, but the feeling of saving a goal is a new one that she is now beginning to experience. 

Todd has played three different sports at Redwood. She has been a member of the soccer, water polo, and softball team. Currently, she is on the Varsity women’s soccer team and is the main goalie.

Being a goalie was an unexpected surprise for Todd this year. Due to an injury on the team with the former main goalie, Olivia Saenz, ’23, Todd was asked to put on her gloves and step into the goalie box.

“I was not really prepared to be a goalie this year. I was expecting to play a striker position,” said Todd. 

What makes Todd such an outstanding player is the fact that she has not been a goalie since she was 12, and now she is saving goals left and right during competitive high school matches. Todd says, “I do like being goalie, but it is very nerve-racking. I feel like all the pressure is on me because I’m the only one that can use my hands in the goalie box.” 

Every year during Todd’s high school soccer seasons, it has been a running joke that she would be the goalie and starting her Senior year that is now a reality.

“It’s always been a joke with Vieria that I have been second string because I am so tall,” said Todd. 

How does one make the switch from making goals to saving them, you might ask? It has been a challenging adjustment, but Todd is not afraid to face anything, “I’m playing the exact opposite of my position. Now I’m blocking the goals instead of attempting to score them. [This] has made me look at it from a different perspective, and I really have respect for goalies now,” Todd states.

Tags: cierasesock, girls soccer, girls varsity soccer, Redwood, redwood gigantea, redwood journalism, redwood rangers, Redwood Soccer, soccer, varsity soccer, varsitygirls, womens