Senior goalkeeper Jenny Williams and junior goalkeeper Kaylin Lorbert have split playing time between each other pretty evenly throughout the past three years. Williams leads in number of matches played, however, at 35-29.

The two goalkeepers have been in competition with each another for the past three years, but they have absolutely no problem with it.

“There’s always competition,” Lorbert said. “It can only help make us better. It’s good for the program.”

The two said the competition heightened a lot this year with the addition of freshman goalkeeper Jessica Taldone to the team. They also said the biggest threat Taldone poses to the two goalies is her height.

Williams said once she and Lorbert saw Taldone, they said to themselves “Oh no,” because they knew better than anyone the height advantage Taldone would have over them.

“We were just like, ‘Oh man, she’s going to get all of the high balls,'” Lorbert said.

Both Lorbert and Williams are 5-foot-5, while Taldone has a two-inch advantage over them at 5-foot-7. However, Williams is glad Taldone is on the team.

“(Taldone) puts a smile on our face every time she walks out to practice,” Williams said, “She provides extra entertainment for us, especially for coach (Summer Perala).”

The two have enjoyed the competition between each other throughout their years together; in fact, both of them have gained positive things from it.

“It was nice because I actually had someone to train with besides (former head coach) Tim Nowak, who was the coach at the time,” Williams said. “I enjoyed having (Lobert) there because (goalkeepers) are different from everyone else on the team and having her pushes me to be better.”

For Lorbert, she entered her freshman year and was immediately taken under Williams’ wing, after Williams played in 19 matches as a freshman.

“She taught me the expectations for an Eastern goalie, or even of a Division-I goalie,” Lorbert said.

Williams feels lucky to have Lorbert as another goalkeeper, especially, as she remembers, during the Northern Illinois Invitational last season.

Williams sprained her ankle during warm-ups before the Aug. 29, 2008, match against Northern Illinois, so Lorbert stepped in.

The next match of the tournament was against Northern Iowa when Lorbert started.

That week, Lorbert was named the Ohio Valley Conference Goalkeeper of the Week, following two matches in which she made 16 saves – only giving up one goal.

Williams and Lorbert have combined to play 5,145 minutes the past three seasons.

Head coach Summer Perala said the two have been important for the team, especially the defense, in that it can have confidence.

“(The defense) knows at any point that there is a competent ‘keeper in the net,” Perala said.

As far as the skill set of both players, Perala thinks they’re similar in that they are both solid shot stoppers and have proven they can make both the “everyday” saves and the big time ones.

The two agree they are similar, but admit Williams is the better goal kicker. They also agree about their weakness – their height, which Taldone has over them.

Lorbert and Williams have combined for 14 shutouts in a total of 64 matches the past three years, combining to make 314 saves together.

The women are friends outside of soccer and say the most important reason is because they haven’t let the sport get in the way.

Alex McNamee can be reached at 581-7944 or

admcnamee@eiu.edu.

Junior Kaylin Lorbert and senior Jenny Williams, goalkeepers for Eastern women’s soccer team, have a combined 96 saves and Lorbert narrowly leads Williams in save percentages, .866 to .809. Williams has posted three shutouts this season and has started i

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