Keepers work together to protect the goal
Erdkamp gets start in opener
By Darren Ivy
Staff writer
Sophomore goalies Karina LeBlanc and Jackie
Erdkamp can’t wait to start practice each day.
The beginning of practice is when the two of
them along with Assistant Coach Marty Everding
break off from the rest of the Nebraska women’s
soccer team and do goalie drills.
“Our chemistry is ideal,” LeBlanc said. “I
wouldn’t change anything.”
During training camp, Erdkamp and LeBlanc
came ior tne starting
goalie position left vacant
by the graduation of third
team All-American Becky
Hombacher. The clear-cut
starter for the season won’t
emerge until the second
game, Everding said.
What is clear-cut is
that Erdkamp will be the
starter in Wednesday’s
exhibition game with Park
College and the season
opener Sept. 4 against
Wisconsin-Milwaukee
11 T pRIanr* ic r\1 rr
with the Canadian national team in a World Cup
qualifying tournament.
When LeBlanc returns from Canada, the coach
es will make the decision.
As freshmen, both keepers backed up
Hombacher with LeBlanc playing 221 minutes and
making five saves and Erdkamp playing 39 minutes
in cleanup roles.
In the spring, LeBlanc was the starter. However,
the job is wide open now, Everding said.
“Both are very close,” he said. “On paper and
statistically, Karina would be the starter, but we
wipe the slate clean and start from the beginning ”
With such a close race, one might think the two
hold some animosity toward one another. But that is
not the case.
, When Enikamp and LeBlanc break into the
goalie group, they feed off one another.
“We have the same attitude,” LeBlanc said. “We
both push each other and won’t take it personally if
the other person is the starter. We are both prepared
to start.”
Having a capable Division I goalie is a must,
Coach John Walker said.
“If you have a solid goalie, it makes the team
more confident,” he said. “It allows the players to
take more chances.”
With Hombacher as the starter the past two sea
sons, NU went 41-5. She gave up 11 goals in 1996
and 15 in 1997.
Duplicating
Hornbacher s statistics
would be an unfair bur
den to put on the new
goalies, Walker said, but
both are capable and will
do a good job.
“We are not looking
for someone who stops
every shot,” Walker said.
“We are looking for them
to be solid and consis
tent.”
LeBlanc has been
working on her consisten
cy this summer on the
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- vuiiauiau uauuiiai ivaiu.
One of her highlights was playing with
Canadian national team goalie Nicci Wright - her
high school idol.
“Just playing with her helps me because I realize
I’m reaching my goal,” LeBlanc said. “It’s kind of
like a dream come true.”
Playing against the top teams m the world has
also taught LeBlanc many lessons and given her a
lot of confidence.
“I am taking more initiative in the way I do cer
tain things,” LeBlanc said. “It comes with experi
ence, and experience is everything as a keeper.”
Erdkamp also has progressed on the technical
aspect of goalkeeping, Everding said.
Even with the strides both keepers have shown,
they know their work is never done.
“I am working hard and giving it my all,”
Erdkamp said. “You can always keep improving.”
The battle for NU Goalie
Name Jackie Erdkamp Karina LeBlanc
Year Sophomore Sophomore
Ht. 5-8 Jfkik 5-9
GAA 2.31 liHl 0.81
Games 4 games 11 games
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Darren Ivy/DN
SOPHOMORES KARINA LeBLANC, diving, and Jackie Erdkamp, standing in the goal, are
battling for the starting goalie position that was left vacated when Becky Hornbacher
graduated. Erdkamp will start the exhibition game Wednesday and the first game Sept. 4
while LeBlanc is with the Canadian national team, and then coaches will make a decision
on the starter.
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