NORFOLK, VA (WAVY) — Old Dominion’s women’s soccer team had a great year, and its defense was rock solid. Goalkeeper Emily Bredek will tell you herself.
“I feel like we were really able to compete this year,” Bredek said.
Which makes a lot of sense when you only give up 11 goals all season.
Toward the end of the season, that dominance in net paid off for Bredek, as she won Sun Belt Goalkeeper of the Year. And you could tell they had that caliber of player back in net. This ODU team didn’t allow a single goal for the first 500 minutes of game time.
It’s something she looked at and appreciated, but knew the goal for the team was bigger than her personal accolades.
“I looked at it a lot during the season and then I realized it doesn’t matter,” Bredek said. “Just keep doing what you’re doing and it’ll be fine.”
But when she found out all that hard work paid off, she couldn’t help but be excited.
“I remember coming off the plane after our last game and coach told me she was nominating me for goalkeeper of the year,” Bredek said. “I said ‘wow that’s crazy’ and she said ‘yeah, crazy good.’ The next day I found out in front of the whole team at practice.”
Now, with one more year under her belt and multiple conference titles, she’s looking to do it again. She wants to work even harder to achieve even bigger goals.
“Keep striving for what you want,” Bredek said. “You don’t know what life is going to bring you. Everything happens for a reason.”