10 NCAA Keepers On the Rise This Season

While a powerful front line might get teams more attention and offensive players get most of the glory, the keeper is the backbone of any team. If you’ve got a solid keeper, you’ve always got a chance. From every corner of the country, the NCAA is packed with keeper potential. And not just those about to graduate or come into their senior year, plenty of underclassmen have also been rising above the ranks. These are just a few of the NCAA keepers we think you should keep your eyes on.

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Jordan Silkowitz (Iowa State)

Iowa State’s Jordan Silkowitz is a senior this year and has been building up quite the sheet since she started. Starting in every regular season game from the last two years, Silkowitz has held steady from the start. In 2021 Silkowitz finished the season with 76 saves—11 in one game against Oklahoma alone—four clean sheets, and was named Big 12 Goalkeeper of the week four times. Silkowitz started her collegiate career as a redshirt, but now that she’s in her senior year, we’re excited to see this last hoorah.

 

Mia Justus (Florida State)

Mia Justus may have been green when she started for the Seminoles, but she made an impression. In her first season with Florida State, Justus had five shutouts out of the eight games she started. Letting only three goals by, she held off Alabama, Louisville, Syracuse, Virginia Tech, and Boston College.

This is an admirable freshman year start, and saw her to a place on the 2021 All-Freshman Team. Justus is no stranger to elite teams as she’s been a member of the US National Team since 2015. And as if her own stats weren’t enough to make you a fan, her cousin is retired all-star goalie for the USMNT, Tim Howard. I guess those awesome keeper genes run in the family.

 

Leah Freeman (Oregon)

Oregon takes the next two spots on our list, first with Leah Freeman. Freeman is an absolute star at Oregon. As a freshman, she started in 15 games and beat the school record for the lowest average against, making 51 saves and securing five shutouts.

In her sophomore year, she shined even brighter, breaking even more records. She is currently the holder of most shutouts in a season with nine, that aforementioned lowest against percentage, and consecutive scoreless minutes with over 471 minutes. With stats like these, we will definitely be seeing Freeman in the NWSL one day.

 

Maddy Goldberg (Oregon)

Maddy Goldberg out of Oregon is just getting started. This rising sophomore only saw three games in her first season, but we really liked what we saw.

In Oregon’s match-up against UC Santa Barbara, Goldberg made six saves and was vital in ending that game in a tie. Goldberg has no losses on her record. What’s even more impressive is that she actually has an assist against Northern Arizona. Goldberg will be Freeman’s successor after her senior year, and we’re sure she’ll thrive in the starting keeper role.

 

Ashley Naylor (Notre Dame)

While Naylor had a sleepy freshman year—only seeing half a game that was already locked up at 6-0—she made quite the impression the past season. Her goals against percentage are the same as Freeman from Oregon at .74%, and this season she has proven herself to be a pro under pressure.

In the second round of the NCAA Tournament, Naylor saved the day with back-to-back PK saves against Purdue. Even though the Fighting Irish fell in the next game against Arkansas (3-2), Naylor made nine saves that night. And that wasn’t even Naylor’s highest save of the season; that honor goes to her game against Wake Forest when she stopped ten shots in 90 minutes.

She’s another keeper on this list with a goal assist, when a punt from the box landed right at the feet of a breakaway forward against Boston College. Clearly, there was no sophomore slump for this keeper!

 

Maddie Prohaska (Auburn)

Now coming into her Junior year, Prohaska has a lot of momentum to build off of. In Prohaska’s freshman year with Auburn, she was awarded Rookie of the Year and their Golden Glove. She has been Auburn’s starting keeper since she first stepped onto the pitch and logged over 1,573 minutes in goal over her first 17 games. Things only improved in her sophomore year when she found herself on a shutout hot streak with seven games in a row. Prohaska consistently makes big-time saves–usually more than once per match–and is about as reliable as they come in the box. 

 

Bella Grust (University of Colorado)

Rising Sophomore Bella Grust was Colorado’s relief keeper last year, but she got the job done. Her first appearance was not just a win but a shutout against Colorado Mines. She went on to appear three more times for Colorado, making a total of ten saves for her season. Grust has a lot to show, and we’re excited to see what the rest of her NCAA career brings to light. 

 

Macy Enneking (Iowa)

Macy Enneking was so eager to become a Hawkeye that she graduated high school early to join Iowa in the goal. As a result, she was awarded just about every Big Ten honor in her first year (All-Freshman Squad, Freshman of the Week, Most Outstanding Defensive Player, etc.).

In her freshman year, she played a combination of starting and relief rolls and made more than her fair share of saves. In her sophomore year, four of her five games were starts, and two were shutouts. As a rising junior, there’s a lot of her we haven’t seen, and we can’t wait.  

 

Tatum Sutherland (SMU)

Sutherland will be coming into her junior year as well this season after a really stellar redshirt sophomore year. As a freshman Sutherland started all 20 of SMU’s matches, finishing with six solo shutouts. Though she did not see any field time her first go around as a sophomore, her redshirt season saw her to three consecutive AAC Goalkeeper of the week wins for a total of four.

In this season, she had only one loss on her record and tallied up five straight shutouts and four clean sheets. 

 

Nadia Cooper (Washington State)

All of these keepers are wonderful, but we’ve saved maybe the best for last. As just a freshman Nadia Cooper achieved two of Washington State’s highest honors. She is the first keeper in the program’s history to be awarded both the Top Freshman Award and the Top Goalkeeper Award. Just coming into her sophomore year, Cooper has one of the lowest goals against percentages on this list, with just .617.

Despite not becoming the Cougars starting keeper until about halfway through the season, Cooper was still able to record just seconds under 524 minutes of consecutive minutes in the net. She allowed only ten goals for a record of 10-1-4, had seven shutouts and was the first freshman to record a shutout in their first career start—which she did twice. So if there’s one collegiate keeper to keep your eye on, it’s Cooper.

 

As we get ready to see the 2022-2023 season kick off across the country, don’t forget to look back at the net. Watching goals getting scored is exciting, but there’s nothing quite as nerve-racking and exhilarating as a phenomenal save.

 

Featured image via @hawkeyesoccer on Instagram

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