217 saves, 22 wins, 4,458 minutes played and 82.8 save percentage.
Hailing from Woolwich, New Jersey, senior goalkeeper Maria Kirby has become one of the greatest goalkeepers in Longwood women’s soccer history. If she plays out the rest of the season, she will have her name atop the record books.
However, at one point, she was just a prospect with some tape.
Assistant women's soccer coach Rich Stoneman said, “I came and interviewed here (Longwood), and they were in search of a goalkeeper. So in my interview, I was asked to take a look at this kid and asked what my thoughts were.”
“My first thought was pretty raw, very athletic and pretty moldable if you can get her to clean up the technical side of being a goalkeeper," said Stoneman.
Upon coming to Longwood, Stoneman got to work on developing Kirby, and said, "It was a process, but all the credit goes to her. I show and tell her what to do but she has to have the ability to process it, do it in training and then be able to transition that into the game.”
Reviewing the record books, Kirby is eight minutes, six wins and 10 saves away from becoming the record holder in those categories. Not to mention already having the most shutouts (20) and best save percentage (82.8%) in Longwood D1 history.
In regards to the records, Kirby said, “It’s pretty cool, but I couldn’t have done it without my teammates. I feel like I share it with them, so it’s my name, but it's for everyone.”
Junior defender Sydney Wallace said, “She's our brick wall back there. Whenever our defense breaks down, we know that she’s gonna clean it up.”
Looking ahead to the team’s chances at winning the conference, Wallace said, “I think we have a really good chance. Especially with her (Kirby), because you need a good goalkeeper for when the back line breaks down, which will happen.”
Kirby and the Lancers started conference play on Saturday, Sept. 23 with a 1-0 loss against the High Point Panthers. Their next two games will be on the road at Winthrop (Wednesday, Sept. 27) and Presbyterian (Saturday, Sept. 30).
