When Instinct Meets Pressure: The Mind Game of Goalkeeping

Allison Wolfe
Thu, 23 Oct 2025 00:50:43 +0000
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Ohio State senior Molly Pritchard (1) warms up in the tunnel before the game against Michigan Oct. 12. Credit: Mikey Campbell | Lantern Photographer

Each time Molly Pritchard makes a mistake in the goal, she bends down and picks up a single blade of grass. She looks at it and holds it, and after a moment, the blade is dropped and, with it, the memory of the mistake.

Goalkeepers spend 90 minutes of every soccer game focused on the field, directing defenders and knowing at any moment, it could be their turn to save the game. For them, the game is as much mental as physical. From trust to visualization, the mental side of goalkeeping is what allows the position to stand apart.

“You can go 44 minutes without any action, but then that 45th minute is the most important,” Pritchard, senior goalkeeper for the Ohio State women’s soccer team, said. “Having your brain turned on the entire match is the most important thing. If I fall asleep one time, it’s 1–0. We’re losing.”

Pritchard and former Ohio State goalkeeper Jillian McVicker, also a Lantern reporter, both said in-goal decision-making comes down to instincts built through repetition, especially in high-pressure moments.

“I think of the worst so that I can be prepared for that banger shot, and in my head, I know I can save it and take it out of the 90, the corner,” Pritchard said.

McVicker, who played for the Buckeyes from 2012–2016, said the position demands fearlessness, and goalkeepers are often seen as “a little bit insane.”

“We’re diving at people’s feet that have cleats on,” McVicker said. “That’s normal. This is our normal Tuesday for us. You have to have this fearless mindset, right? You’re just, ‘I’m fearless, I’m confident, I’m going to get the ball.’”

McVicker said on the field, she tried to keep her emotions in check as a leader, regardless of how the game was going.

“We’re perfectionists, right?” McVicker said. “Of course, we’re going to be our own biggest critics. But I think the biggest thing is, like, ‘how can I lift up immediately after?’”

Pritchard said during her first semester on the women’s soccer team, she struggled with letting mistakes affect her mental space.

“One mistake would turn into two, which would turn into three, which isn’t possible in goalkeeping, unless I want to lose five to zero and ask my offense to score six,” Pritchard said.

For many goalkeepers, it can be hard not to let those mistakes define them, especially when the position becomes such a big part of their sense of self.

When she was growing up, McVicker said her identity was tied to being a goalkeeper. When that did not go well, she was devastated. As time went on, she worked to remember why she started in the position and sport in the first place.

“I need to remember who I was when I was 12,” McVicker said. “Why did I choose to play this position? Why I chose this sport and just play because I loved it. Play to motivate younger players, and play to show that people can overcome adversity and still succeed.”

Every goalkeeper has their own reset. For Pritchard, it’s a piece of grass. For McVicker, it’s keeping an even mentality. Either way, the next stop will come, the next goal will be scored and the goalkeeper hopes to be ready.