Photo by: Stephen Wandzura
Women's Soccer Q&A: Kinsey Ehmann
11/14/2019 12:38:00 PM | Women's Soccer, Competing With Purpose Blog
Redshirt freshman Kinsey Ehmann of the Pepperdine women's soccer team talks about how it felt taking over the starting goalkeeper role and her excitement for the upcoming NCAA Tournament:
Q: You started the season as the backup goalkeeper, how was it to take over the starting role?
A: It was pretty crazy to be honest. I had never played in a real collegiate game before and I just got thrown in against Vanderbilt suddenly when Zoe went down. It was a little hectic at first because they were a great team, but I felt ready. I felt prepared because the coaching staff does such a great job of preparing us and with my team in front of me, supporting me, I felt really secure. It was definitely nerve-wracking, but I was super excited.
Q: What had prepared you most when you were thrown into that situation?
A: Definitely our goalkeeper trainer, Ryann Torrero, because she does a great job with us. Zoe and I are the only two goalies this year, so we have seen a lot more reps and more time working. Both of us are returners so we were able to get right into things at the beginning of the season, which was very nice. Our goalie sessions have been great. We have a little GKU, which is like the GK union. All that was definitely a major factor in preparing me.
Q: How do you think you have done thus far?
A: I think I have done pretty well but it has really been my team that has done amazing. It's awesome to see all of our hard work together paying off. Some of the most hard-working girls I have ever met are the girls on this team. Together we really achieved our goal of getting into the tournament with hopefully winning a national title being our end goal. I think so far, we've been doing really well.
Q: How has the team supported you during this transition?
A: They have given me a lot of confidence just by always being there and cheering me on. They definitely have high expectations of me, which pushes me to be the best that I can be. Knowing they are confident in me and that I am in confident in them has been really helpful.
Q: What have you had to learn quickly in this new role?
A: The college game is way different than it was in club. One of the biggest things has been the different elements of goalkeeping. In club it was just about if you were a good shot stopper but in college you have to be good at all phases of goalkeeping or else a team will pinpoint it and take advantage of it. I have learned a lot of my weaknesses by going over film, in practice, and just by analyzing the way that I play. There are also so many details of goalkeeping that I never really realized before and how you have to be good at every different aspect of goalkeeping to help win games.
Q: You are headed to Texas to play Texas Tech in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. What are your thoughts about playing in your first tournament?
A: I am so excited. This has been my dream since I was young, and I can't believe it is becoming reality. We have a great team and we are all willing to work hard for each other and are just so ecstatic to be in the tournament. We are looking to win a national title, so this is just the first step in our process.
Q: What have been your favorite moments of the season so far?
A: Definitely our win over Stanford. That was probably the best moment of my life. Everyone was contributing in that game and everyone played lights out. It was amazing to see our defense put their bodies on the line and our forwards running full-field sprints to get back to the ball. It was amazing honestly because it showed all of our dedication and hard work. The WCC season has been amazing as well. When we were at USF, we came back from losing 1-0 to win it 3-3. Especially with the conditions being pretty tough because the fog was so bad, we couldn't see the ball went it went over half, I thought that was a really great team win. These two games were really the ones that stood out for me.
Q: Who has influenced your game the most or is there anyone you model your game after?
A: This season I have tried to replicate our goalie from last season, Brielle Preece. She was a huge inspiration to me. She was our captain and a fifth-year senior last year and she was named WCC Goalkeeper of the Year twice. She was such a dominant force on the field and sometimes I think what would Brielle do in this situation, especially because she was such a great leader and person. I definitely try to model my play after her. When I was younger my dad and I used to watch the Stanford women's soccer team play and they had a goalie, Jane Campbell, she plays for the Houston Dash now. She just had this presence about her that was so intense and so dominant. I just thought she was the best. She is probably one of my biggest role models.
Q: You started the season as the backup goalkeeper, how was it to take over the starting role?
A: It was pretty crazy to be honest. I had never played in a real collegiate game before and I just got thrown in against Vanderbilt suddenly when Zoe went down. It was a little hectic at first because they were a great team, but I felt ready. I felt prepared because the coaching staff does such a great job of preparing us and with my team in front of me, supporting me, I felt really secure. It was definitely nerve-wracking, but I was super excited.
Q: What had prepared you most when you were thrown into that situation?
A: Definitely our goalkeeper trainer, Ryann Torrero, because she does a great job with us. Zoe and I are the only two goalies this year, so we have seen a lot more reps and more time working. Both of us are returners so we were able to get right into things at the beginning of the season, which was very nice. Our goalie sessions have been great. We have a little GKU, which is like the GK union. All that was definitely a major factor in preparing me.
Q: How do you think you have done thus far?
A: I think I have done pretty well but it has really been my team that has done amazing. It's awesome to see all of our hard work together paying off. Some of the most hard-working girls I have ever met are the girls on this team. Together we really achieved our goal of getting into the tournament with hopefully winning a national title being our end goal. I think so far, we've been doing really well.
Q: How has the team supported you during this transition?
A: They have given me a lot of confidence just by always being there and cheering me on. They definitely have high expectations of me, which pushes me to be the best that I can be. Knowing they are confident in me and that I am in confident in them has been really helpful.
Q: What have you had to learn quickly in this new role?
A: The college game is way different than it was in club. One of the biggest things has been the different elements of goalkeeping. In club it was just about if you were a good shot stopper but in college you have to be good at all phases of goalkeeping or else a team will pinpoint it and take advantage of it. I have learned a lot of my weaknesses by going over film, in practice, and just by analyzing the way that I play. There are also so many details of goalkeeping that I never really realized before and how you have to be good at every different aspect of goalkeeping to help win games.
Q: You are headed to Texas to play Texas Tech in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. What are your thoughts about playing in your first tournament?
A: I am so excited. This has been my dream since I was young, and I can't believe it is becoming reality. We have a great team and we are all willing to work hard for each other and are just so ecstatic to be in the tournament. We are looking to win a national title, so this is just the first step in our process.
Q: What have been your favorite moments of the season so far?
A: Definitely our win over Stanford. That was probably the best moment of my life. Everyone was contributing in that game and everyone played lights out. It was amazing to see our defense put their bodies on the line and our forwards running full-field sprints to get back to the ball. It was amazing honestly because it showed all of our dedication and hard work. The WCC season has been amazing as well. When we were at USF, we came back from losing 1-0 to win it 3-3. Especially with the conditions being pretty tough because the fog was so bad, we couldn't see the ball went it went over half, I thought that was a really great team win. These two games were really the ones that stood out for me.
Q: Who has influenced your game the most or is there anyone you model your game after?
A: This season I have tried to replicate our goalie from last season, Brielle Preece. She was a huge inspiration to me. She was our captain and a fifth-year senior last year and she was named WCC Goalkeeper of the Year twice. She was such a dominant force on the field and sometimes I think what would Brielle do in this situation, especially because she was such a great leader and person. I definitely try to model my play after her. When I was younger my dad and I used to watch the Stanford women's soccer team play and they had a goalie, Jane Campbell, she plays for the Houston Dash now. She just had this presence about her that was so intense and so dominant. I just thought she was the best. She is probably one of my biggest role models.
Players Mentioned
GK
/ Women's Soccer
GK
/ Women's Soccer
