Athletes always talk about being in the zone, but few can say they have actually experienced it.
Still, professionals and amateurs alike spend hours perfecting their bodies. Many devote their entire athletic career to training, hoping to find a path that will bring them closer to that spotless performance.
They describe an ideal place, where the mind and body work together perfectly, and movement occurs without any sort of deliberate effort.
But great athletes know there is more to it.
Great athletes understand even if they lose their edge every once in a while, they can always get it back. It’s about mindset, at least according to junior goalkeeper Briana Silvestri.
“From here on out, we need to take one game at a time,” Silvestri said of the ASU soccer team. “We need to focus every week—we can’t look too far into the future.”
After missing the first three games of 2008 due to injury, Silvestri has allowed just one goal in four games for the Sun Devils (3-3-2).
Silvestri was named the National Player of the Week by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America on Wednesday, and sports a .237 goals against average.
All sounds easy enough.
“[Goalkeeper] is a difficult position in terms of mental exhaustion,” Silvestri said. “It’s hard to just keep things organized and stay focused.”
After holding then-No. 7 Texas and Baylor scoreless last weekend, Silvestri was also named the Pac-10 Player of the Week.
She now ranks fourth on ASU’s all-time shutouts list with nine.
“[Silvestri] was great against Texas,” coach Kevin Boyd said. “She [made] no mistakes, and she gave them no second chances.
“Texas is known for being dangerous in the air, she took that danger away.”
This week, Silvestri and the Sun Devils will counter Cal State Northridge (5-1-0) and Michigan (3-3-1) in the first games of a seven-game home stand.
“They are both good, solid teams” Boyd said. “They are both very well-coached.”
Boyd said CUSN and UM both bring a physical style to the game.
Coming off of a successful weekend and a three-game unbeaten streak, the Sun Devils will go into Friday’s game with an added confidence.
“I think we’re doing well defensively,” freshman defender Kate Sangster said. “This weekend, we need to keep the ball and continue going through our midfielders. We’re hoping to capitalize there.”
Reach the reporter at emiley.darling@asu.edu.
