Scott Goodwin maintains leadership role on the field

Scott Goodwin’s life is all about numbers.

He’s lost four games as the starting goalkeeper for the North Carolina soccer team. He’s allowed 23 goals, and in the 2010 NCAA semifinals, he let the game-winning shot slip through his fingers with less than one minute remaining.

But that isn’t the stat line on which Goodwin chooses to focus.

Instead, the junior prefers to think about his 3,183 minutes played, 34 starts, 80 saves and 15 shutouts while standing between the eight-foot goalposts of his 24-foot wide domain as a Tar Heel.

“I watched the goal from last year’s Final Four at least 30 times trying to figure out what I could have done,” Goodwin said.

“But everybody’s had their big bloopers. You really just have to move on. You can’t let it take you into a slump. You just have to go into the next game with the same confidence you went into the first one with.”

But despite the time Goodwin commits to perfecting his game, he isn’t only focused on soccer. Boasting a 3.9 grade point average, the junior biology major plans to graduate one semester early and attend medical school after his soccer career comes to a close.

“I would love to play soccer somewhere,” Goodwin said. “If I’m drafted in the MLS, that’d be great. And if an opportunity presents itself overseas, I would definitely do that. But after I’m done playing soccer, I really want to go back to school.”

Roommate and fellow teammate Enzo Martinez said he admires Goodwin’s leadership. But the goalkeeper doesn’t just help his teammates on the pitch.

“The man is a genius,” Martinez said. “He works so hard and helps the team with schoolwork. Even if he’s never taken the class, he’ll sit down and try to help you out as much as he can.”

And with eight true freshmen on the 2011 squad, a natural leader is just what the Tar Heels need.

Goalkeeper and assistant coach Jeff Negalha recognizes the importance of leadership and Scott’s role as a mentor for the team.

“When you look at our team, it’s really a completely new group,” Negalha said. “With Scott’s leadership qualities and his experience on and off the field, there’s some sort of stability within the new group dynamics.”

Goodwin has a lot to be proud of academically. But on the field, he stands out just as much.

Since becoming the starting goalkeeper his sophomore year, Goodwin has made his mark on the program. He posted the second-most shutouts in the ACC last season with 11 ­— the most for a Tar Heel since Michael Ueltschey notched 12 in 2001.

As one of the smaller goalies in the league, Goodwin’s 6-foot, 185-pound frame barely covers 1/16th of the goal area he protects, but that hasn’t stopped him from thriving in the high-pressure position.

“I’m naturally drawn to being under pressure,” he said. “There’s a lot of glory, but it’s extremely obvious when you make mistakes. It’s not the easiest position to play, but as I got more and more into it, I started liking it more and more.”

Instead of concentrating on brute size, Goodwin plays smart soccer — focusing on his crosses and the aerial game.

“Tim Howard (from the U.S. National Team) is a big idol for me,” Goodwin said. “He’s able to get to a spot so quickly but then just relax his whole body and be really clean with the ball. That’s something I’m really trying to do with my own game.”

Goodwin’s leadership manifests itself in his game-day persona, when he becomes a mentally focused machine.

From the box, he is able to see the field in its entirety and can direct his teammates into appropriate defensive positions when the opponent gets a breaking ball.

“Everybody on the team is going to trust you because you can see everything that’s going on,” Goodwin said. “You can tell someone if there’s another team member right on them that they wouldn’t necessarily see. I just make sure they’re stepping and dropping at the right times. It’s all about communication.”

Leading from the back of the field takes its toll on the Raleigh native. But while spectators won’t see Goodwin sprinting down Fetzer Field or displaying fancy footwork, Goodwin thinks his role is just as difficult as any other.

“It can definitely get tiring,” he said. “People say goalkeepers don’t run, but I’d like to see a field player go through a goalkeeper workout. I think it’s harder than running.”

But Martinez said he wouldn’t trade his field position to stand in goal. To the junior midfielder, goalkeepers are superhuman.

“I think they’re a different breed,” he said. “They’re mentally tough. At practice, we’ll all be taking shots from six or eight yards out, and we’re blasting the ball at his head and he’s out there diving, saving the ball and getting right back up.”

In his 35 games for UNC, Goodwin has registered 24 wins, four ties.

But if the Tar Heels make it to the College Cup for the fourth year in a row this season, there’s one number the goalkeeper hopes to avoid.

Never again, Goodwin said, will he let that one shot slip through his fingers.

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