Sports
O'Fallon Patch Spotlight Athlete Of The Week: Megan Swanson, St. Dominic Soccer
Freshman goalkeeper is among best in area with current streak of seven straight shutouts.
There’s a unique trend going on among area girls soccer teams this spring.
A number of squads, as many as 15-20 of them, and some with championship aspirations, have decided to play a freshman at the goalkeeper position.
And one team for whom that decision has proven to be a stroke of genius is the , who feature one of the hottest goalkeepers in the entire area, in freshman Megan Swanson, the O’Fallon Patch's Spotlight Athlete of the Week.
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Swanson has led St. Dominic to a 10-3 record this season, and the number four ranking in this week’s area top 10 poll, thanks to a spectacular season in net, which includes a magnificent seven straight games without allowing a goal.
“It’s cool, I work hard, but I don’t brag about it,” Swanson said, after her consecutive shutouts in a row streak had reached six games, following a showdown with number one-ranked Ursuline Academy last Monday. “I’m not gonna be like, I have (six) straight shutouts. I’ll just take it one game at a time.”
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Swanson’s shutout streak reached an incredible seven straight games this past Wednesday, when St. Dominic defeated Duchesne High 4-0.
Figure in that the last goal scored against Swanson came in the first half of an April 4 game against St. Joseph’s Academy, that’s more 600 straight minutes of soccer where the fantastic freshman from St. Dominic has not allowed a goal.
A truly incredible feat for a kid, who’s still learning so much about the game, and just last year was only playing sometimes for one of the Scott Gallagher Soccer Club youth league teams.
“I had an idea of how good she was because I got to see her play a lot beforehand,” St. Dominic head coach Greg Koeller said. “My two daughters play on the same club team. So I kinda knew what level player she was. And she’s just done a fantastic job.”
For the season, Swanson leads the Archdiocesan Athletic Association in almost every goalkeeping category. Her eight shutouts played in is the most in the conference, as is her 10 goalkeeper wins.
Swanson also boasts the league’s best goals-against average (0.52), and has allowed only seven goals all year, both figures that not only lead the league, but among regular starting goalkeepers, rank among the best in the area.
“Me and my dad have always had this little saying that you play every game like it’s the World Cup,” Swanson said. “So that’s how I try to play. And it’s been going good.”
Things have been going pretty well for the entire Lady Crusader team, which along with their sparkling top 10 ranking, also have a firm grip on first place in the AAA, with a 7-0 record, which already includes wins over top conference competitors Rosati-Kain and Trinity Catholic.
The St. Dominic defense has been near impenetrable, and offensively, the Lady Crusaders are led by 2010 All-AAA player, and 2011 league-leading goal scorer in sophomore Cristina Rodriguez (11 goals this season).
It’s a combination that has many believing St. Dominic might be right in line for its second girls soccer state championship in school history, and first since 2007.
“If we just don’t play (like individuals), we can do it,” Swanson said.
Koeller added, “We knew the incoming (freshman) class was a strong group, and a very talented group. We’re just glad that they arrived here at St. Dominic. We just played the top team in the St. Louis area, and did outstanding. So you see the level of play we have.”
The Lady Crusaders will look to continue rolling through the season with three home games, as part of this week’s St. Dominic/Francis Howell North High School Shootout.
On Tuesday, the Lady Crusaders will host Francis Howell Central High. The following day, Wednesday, April 27, they’ll matchup against Villa Duchesne High, before concluding the week on Thursday, April 28, with a showdown against Rockwood Summit High.
Each of those contests is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m.
But when, and if, anybody’s ever going to score against Megan Swanson again, is anybody’s guess entirely.
“We know we have a quality keeper making good saves,” Koeller said. “The players have extreme confidence in her. So she’s only going to get better.”