While standing in the cage at Old Dominion University Friday evening, goalkeeper Ali Meves had all the confidence she needed.
Even though it was just her first career start and she was playing against a ranked opponent, the junior found inspiration in one of the strangest places -- on the back of her hand protectors.
Assistant coach Annie Zinkavich, who works with the goalkeepers, said she provided Meves with what she likes to call "athletic tape inspiration."
"We have a goalkeeper tradition since I've been back here," Zinkavich said. "What I do is I write on a piece of athletic tape your one main word for the weekend and then I fill in around it."
Zinkavich said on Friday she wrote the word "confidence" on Meves' hand protector and then filled in around it with other words of inspiration.
"I wrote, 'No fear,' 'Fake it till you make it,' 'Communication,' 'Footwork angles,' " Zinkavich said. "It's all just little goalie terms but stuff where if they kind of get a little rattled they look at the back of the hand protectors."
After finding out right before the game that she was starting, Meves said it was a bit of a nerve-wracking experience. She had been battling for the starting spot with redshirt freshman Ayla Halus and earned the start in part because of her performance during the 90-minute pre-game warm-up.
While she recorded 12 saves during her two weekend starts, she remains focused on becoming more confident in the cage.
"I gave her the starting nod and said, 'OK kid, let's see what you can do with
it,' " Zinkavich said. "I think she really took a hold of it and ran with it, which was good to see. In practice sometimes she questions her decisions and what she's doing so it's good to she her step up."
Zinkavich, a former Nittany Lion goalkeeper, has been working with Meves ever since the junior came to Penn State in 2007. Seeing Meves succeed in the cage this weekend was something that Zinkavich said was "a proud moment."
Head coach Char Morett insists the starter will be named on a game-to-game basis but said that Meves' poise in the cage has helped her temporarily land the job.
"It was a tough decision to make because we see great qualities in both of them," Morett said. "My personal opinion was that Ali had more experience and when we played in the spring Ali showed more game sense in the cage. "
Meves is open to the idea of taking the position battle game by game because she understands that throughout the season there will be many ups and downs. While being thrust into the starting role is an opportunity that the junior welcomes after watching and learning from goalkeeper Jen Beaumont the past two seasons that doesn't mean it will change her approach.
"We are going to have to compete for each game and I think that's going to be a good thing for us," Meves said. "I think knowing that both of us are going to have to keep working hard to earn that spot will be something that keeps pushing us during practices."
The team set high standards for this season, and Meves knows that her confidence will only improve with more opportunities.
Just from making her first start to her second one, which came Sunday afternoon, Meves said she was less nervous. Her willingness to take advantage of the opportunity has the coaches pleased, and Meves' newfound confidence didn't go unnoticed by her teammates either.
"Ali's got a lot of energy, she's really fun to be around and brings a lot of positive energy to the team," co-captain Amy Bonenberger said. "In the backfield, when we're doing defensive drills, it's really nice to hear her positive comments. She's stepped up and I'm so proud of her."
