Sep. 7—MENOMONIE — Julia McNamar had to rack her brain to recall the last time she played goalie at any level.
“I think the last time I played was fifth grade for one game,” said McNamar, a junior on the UW-Stout women’s soccer team. “And I got hit really hard in the thigh and I’m like, ‘Alright, I’m good.'”
But when needed this past week, the Janesville native was more than willing to step up. Despite her lack of experience, McNamar was thrust between the pipes for the Blue Devils’ first two games of the season due to an injury to the team’s regular goalkeeper.
She’s been more than just a live body in net. McNamar has recorded two shutouts in a 1-0 win against Concordia Moorhead and a 3-0 triumph against Benedictine University, backing her squad to a stellar start in their first action since 2019.
She said she’s even shocked herself at times. She’s performed exceptionally well considering she wondered whether coach Ryan Raufus was joking with her when he first broached the idea.
“I was definitely shocked,” McNamar said. “I was like, ‘Wait, hold on. Are you serious right now?’ I thought (coach) was kind of pulling my leg a little bit.”
UW-Stout expected to have two keepers on the roster this year according to Raufus, but that depth was lost when one decided against playing. That left just Haley Vokaty at the position. When she suffered an injury during one of the Blue Devils’ preseason exhibitions, the team was put in a difficult position.
McNamar is traditionally a defender, having helped Belleville/New Glarus to four regional championships while earning three all-conference selections. But she did step in goal briefly last year, her first with UW-Stout after transferring from Milwaukee School of Engineering, during a practice.
“I couldn’t practice at the time on the field so they just kind of put me in as a dummy goalie,” McNamar said. “And then they just kind of got upset when I blocked one of our shots.”
That effort was noted by Raufus, in his 11th year leading the program.
“Julia had hopped in at goalkeeper to just kind of fill it in and started making some good saves,” Raufus said. “Some of that was lodged in the back of my memory. So when it came time for us to have to potentially use a field player in goal, I knew that she was one of the options. We tried four different field players and we ended up going with Julia. She’s done a great job of making us look smart.”
McNamar got a warm-up during exhibitions and eased in with her first official game. She was needed sparingly against Concordia Moorhead, with her defense limiting the Cobbers to one shot on goal.
She was tested further against Benedictine, needing to make six saves.
“The whole team is playing really well,” Raufus said. “It takes 11 to defend, 11 to score. I think as a unit we’re doing an excellent job defending, limiting chances. And the chances we are letting up, Julia is doing a really nice job of making sure that they don’t get to the back of the net.”
This goalkeeper experience will likely be over for McNamar in the near future. Vokaty is set to return to action soon, possibly in the Blue Devils’ Tuesday night game against Carleton College. That will move McNamar back to her traditional position — and potentially allow her to walk away from goalkeeping with a clean slate.
“It’s definitely really cool,” McNamar said. “It’s been my first two full 90-minute college games too. Just to be able to have two shutouts in a position I’ve never played before, it’s pretty neat.”
She’s gained a new perspective on the game that could benefit her long-term, as well as some added respect for those who’ve chosen goalie as their career path.
“I didn’t realize how hard some girls hit the ball,” McNamar said. “It’s quite terrifying, but you’ve got to throw yourself in front of it.”