Maybe I'm incredibly biased (I know I am), but I think that the goalkeeper might just be one of the most mentally deflating positions in the wonderful, and intensely painful, game of soccer. As a keeper, I spent a lot of time blaming losses on myself. I cried over games I shouldn't have, and wore a beaming smile after wins that I quite honestly didn't deserve.

I felt the weight of the world on my shoulders each and every time I heard that whistle signaling the beginning of a game, because nothing is worse than a car ride home with your teammates who are crying because of the one goal that grazed past your fingertips. It was the worst feeling I have ever felt, but I wouldn't give it up for anything.

There's nothing quite like the rush you get when you're standing in the box for your team after a game, knowing that you've done your best and that you really truly deserved that win. I have never had a feeling as intense as I did when diving after a ball with eight seconds left, knowing that I was either going to save our win or catapult us into overtime, jeopardizing our spot in the regional tournament. There are games you'll play as a goalie that will make you feel like a God, like you're flying above the clouds when you dive, and you're gliding across the ocean when you land with that ball securely in your gloves. But there are also games you'll play that make you feel like digging a hole and jumping in. There are games that will haunt you for weeks because you know you could've done better, but you just have to learn from those games.

Goalkeepers have to be tough. You have to literally get up and brush yourself off after the mistakes you make, no matter who they're in front of or when they happen. Bad dives and sloppy saves are bound to happen, they're unavoidable! We all have off days, when it seems like the goal could be the size of a bathtub and anyone could still score on us, but that isn't what defines you as a goalie. You are defined by the way you respond to adversity. You are defined by the way you look the other team in the eyes and dare them to take another shot, because you know that they don't stand a chance. You are defined by your mental game just as much as your physical skills, because we are the ones on the team who wear our bruises head to toe, and we are the ones responsible for keeping the net clean by any and all means. We make a promise to our teammates at the beginning of every season to protect them with all that we own, and we're too prideful to back down.