Casey brings the intensity

Immediately following the national anthem, before every Terrapin women's soccer game, goalkeeper Mary Casey runs to the sidelines and grab her gloves. She doesn't listen to music to get pumped up, because she already is.

Instead, she just wants to calm down, relax and focus.

As Casey heads back onto the field, goalkeeper coach Laurie George will simply say, "Do your job. Get saves and give yourself a chance."

And that's exactly what last year's All-ACC goalkeeper has done in 71 career games.
Casey is the backbone of the No. 19 Terps, who face Monmouth in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday at Ludwig Field. According to teammates and coaches, Casey is the most competitive player on the team. All year, her clutch saves and willingness to give up her body have kept the Terps in games en route to one of the best seasons in program history.

"If we lose I get pretty upset," Casey said. "I usually put it on myself."

Even after a 3-0 loss to North Carolina in the first round of the ACC Tournament last week, Casey was the last player off the field. That game marked the first and last time she would grace the pitch during an ACC Tournament game.

The captain has seen it all in her four-year career with the Terps — from last-second losses to major upsets and now, finally, the postseason.

"She is about the hardest-working kid I have ever been around in all facets of life," coach Brian Pensky said.

The senior constantly yells at her teammates throughout the game to get in position and simply, "Fight." That word still rings in the heads of the players on the backline. She is the most vocal player on the team, but she wasn't always.

As a freshman, Casey rarely said a word. Instead, she just went to work on the field trying to advance up the depth chart. Even Pensky wasn't sure what was going on. It wasn't until she came to the campus that he actually saw her play in person.

The only reason he signed Casey was because of a recommendation from former Terp and current Washington Freedom player Emily Janss. Janss played with Casey in the Freedom's youth development program during the summer and quickly told Pensky to grab her.

The goalkeeper, who was also recruited as a forward, came to College Park quiet, reserved and lacking confidence. Pensky quickly changed that.

"I got yelled at every day," Casey said. "I just learned that if I talked, it would all go away. It was that constant yelling that really got to me. They said I could have a big impact if I just spoke up."

Casey tested as the fastest player on the team her freshman year. But with All-ACC goalkeeper Nikki Resnick  on the team, Pensky had to find another place to put Casey.

She started the year as a reserve forward and then was moved to defender when the team changed formations; she also balanced the load of backup goalkeeper. But with her speed and aggression, Casey excelled on the backline.

Against George Mason in her freshman year, Casey simply willed the Terp defense. A Patriots player sent a cross from 30 yards out, and she took the ball in the face. As the ball rolled away, another George Mason player got to it and served it back in the box. As the ball rolled around, Casey dove and took the ball in the stomach.

By that time, the goalkeeper was off her line and it was up to Casey. The Patriots took a third shot and again Casey took it off the stomach, preventing a goal. George Mason didn't score that day.

"That kind of inhuman effort and intensity and lack of concern for her own body and physical harm separates her from any athlete I've ever been around," Pensky said. "It leaves us all impressed."

Five games into her junior season, Pensky decided to move Casey from defender back to goalkeeper. After not playing in goal for months, Casey embraced the challenge. At the end of the season, she was named to the All-ACC team.

"She is a beast in goal," George said. "She is so fearless, so focused and so driven. She will run through you if you don't get out of the way. She will plow through you."

The senior has played every minute this season, racking up 63 saves and allowing just more than a goal a game while recording seven shutouts. Her career-high nine saves against North Carolina on Nov. 1, the Terps' (12-5-2, 4-4-2 ACC) last regular season game, made a 1-0 loss look much closer than it actually was.

After a tough three years of losing and staying home during the postseason, Casey finally gets to enjoy the NCAA Tournament in her final season on Friday. For a player who lives through the game of soccer, it's only fitting to end her career on the grand stage, where she will guide her team as long as she can.

"We didn't tell Mary how to be a leader," George said. "To be a leader comes within. You have to emerge as one and she has done that. It takes a special person to play goalkeeper, and Mary's a special person."

eckard@umdbk.com