Soccer presents a unique dilemma for the men and women who guard the net. The game itself takes place mostly at midfield and can test the focus of the goalie every minute of the game. Women's soccer senior goalkeeper Amy Coron is always ready when the pressure is on.
Coron grew up in Rochester, N.Y. and has had a soccer ball in hand since she can remember. She attributes her love for soccer to her family.
"My dad and brother really inspired me growing up. They were both goalies," said Coron. My dad still comes to every game and my mom comes when she can. My dad was always gone because of soccer but my mom tolerated it. She was always really supportive."
Coron believes the hardest part of being a goalie is keeping the team in the game.
"You have to always keep your head in the game," Coron said. "When you get scored on, you're the last player back so you feel the brunt of the guilt. It's important to be able to make the first save of the game."
While Coron might have been destined to play in front of the net because of her family history, she did spend time trying to score on the other goalie while in high school.
"I used to play midfield," Coron said. "I do like to be able to run around once in a while."
In her spare time, Coron likes to think of herself as an oddball and likes to go on adventures with her roommate.
"We'll just go to Dick's [Sporting Goods] and put on the hunting gear," she said. "It's all orange and we'll just walk around. We're kind of weird."
While Coron is used to soccer being time consuming, she still finds it hard to be a student and an athlete at the same time.
"Time management is a huge aspect," she said. "I'm a senior and I still haven't mastered it. I don't know if that's just me or all the athletes."
While soccer has always been a constant in her life, Coron has big musical dreams after graduating from Buffalo.
"I would like to get into music and tour management," Coron said.
While Coron loves playing soccer, sometimes she wished she played another sport. Growing up she played basketball and softball, but would have loved the opportunity to try out volleyball.
"I always wished I had given volleyball a chance," Coron said. "My roommate as well as a lot of my friends are on the volleyball team and it looks like fun. I also like to pretend I can play."
While Coron has no fears in the heat of battle, she feels that there is one fear that haunts her in her daily life.
"My biggest fear would be falling short," she said. "Not meeting my potential as a player sometimes creeps into my head."
When measuring the success of her career, Coron looks at how she has helped her teams before anything else.
"My goal is to win the conference and tournament championship," she said, "Being able to do that and setting a standard for the program is hopefully a realistic and ideal goal."
