Alyssa Gillmore expected to learn plenty as a freshman on the ASU soccer team last season. She just didn't anticipate the tutelage being so up close and personal.
Playing behind senior goalkeeper Briana Silvestri, the school's all-time leader in goals against average (0.78), Gillmore, as many freshman do, was biding her time, learning from the experienced player in front of her.
But on the eve of ASU's first Pac-10 game, Silvestri went down with a season-ending knee injury, pressing the freshman into action against some of the country's top competition.
“The first part was I was sad to see [Silvestri] go down that way, especially being her last year,” Gillmore said. “Then it was, 'Oh, I'm actually going in now.'"
It was trial by fire for Gillmore, who faced Pac-10 powers USC and UCLA in her first two starts, tying a school record with 14 saves in a 3-2 overtime loss to the former.
“The first couple games were totally different than anything else I'd ever played,” Gillmore said. “I think once I figured out how the back line played and they figured out how I played, we all just started clicking and playing together as a team.”
Gillmore's transition between the posts for a Division I program wasn't without its struggles. Luckily, the freshman had an experienced mentor guiding her over some of the rough patches.
When she found herself frustrated over her play or struggling with the pressures of the position, Gillmore would go to lunch with Silvestri, who offered her younger teammate some sage advice.
“She said, 'You've played this since you were 4, and it's still the same game,” Gillmore recalled. “She said it's just different people you're playing with and once you get to know them and they get to know you, it'll be fine. It was a big learning experience.”
Her confidence building as the season went on, Gillmore allowed just one goal in the final weekend of the season against Oregon and Oregon State, pacing two victories that earned ASU its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2003. Gillmore posted a razor-thin .031 goals against average in the team's final three games.
“I think she was nervous at first,” senior forward Alexandra Elston said, “but as soon as she got into and started playing and made that first save she played awesome. She started to guide people and show some leadership.”
Despite the experience gained as a freshman, though, the goalkeeper job won't be handed to Gillmore when ASU kicks off its season this fall. Vittoria Arnold, an incoming freshman from Mesquite, Texas, is a talented player who will push Gillmore for the starting role.
Elston believes the stiff competition will benefit both players.
“More than one player there is always a good thing,” she said. “Both of them are going to be competing back and forth to win that spot, so as long as they can both stay healthy, the best one's going to play.”
Gillmore said she appreciates the challenge, one that is constantly pushing her to get better.
“Obviously if I didn't need improvement I wouldn't be here,” the goalkeeper said. “I just want to help my team.”
