John Riggs looks for an open player during a game earlier this season. (Staff photo by Samantha Sciarrotta.)
Robbinsville High boys’ soccer coach Jeff Fisher can’t recall exactly who it was who referred to Robbinsville as a “goalie factory,” but he remembers having the conversation earlier this season.
There may not be an assembly line with keepers rolling off it, but the Ravens did come up with another outstanding goalie to replace David Pastuna this past season.
After three seasons as Robbinsville’s starter, Pastuna took over in goal for Rider University this year and had a standout freshman campaign. He hardly left his former team in a lurch, as junior John Riggs transferred back from Trenton Catholic, stepped right in and was the highlight of a 2-11-1 season.
“That was tough for John, having to follow Dave, reading about how well Dave was doing at Rider,” Fisher said. “It’s a tough act to follow with a thing like that.”
Evidently not that tough.
“I mean, in a way yeah, I kind of did have to fill in his shoes,” Riggs said. “But I always knew I was gonna do well.”
Fisher said goalkeepers need that kind of confidence to thrive.
“If you’re a forward or midfielder you can make a few mistakes and get away with it, but not a goalie,” he said.
He also has a desire to play goal, which has been there all his life. Pastuna was just the opposite, as he protested being moved into goal as a sophomore, before eventually making the position his own.
Riggs started at age 3 at the Hamilton YMCA and was a keeper from the beginning. When they tried to move him onto the field, he reacted.
“My mom said I would cry if they took me out of the goal and put me on the field,” he said. “I just never liked it on the field. From age 3 to around 10, they would try putting me on the field, but I started getting better and better in goal and I didn’t want any part of it.”
Riggs went on to play EDP soccer in Manalapan and played two years for Pond Road Middle School. After playing sub-varsity as a freshman, he transferred to Trenton Catholic and became the starter his sophomore year. The Iron Mikes went undefeated in the regular season and reached the Mercer County Tournament finals.
“He got to play with some talented players at TCA,” Fisher said. “He knows what it takes to be a good program.”
When TCA coach Sean Miller left, after last year, Riggs and several other players transferred back to their original schools, which solved the Ravens problem of replacing Pastuna.
“That spot would have definitely been a question mark,” Fisher said. “But once we learned he was coming back, that question was pretty much answered, just knowing the ability he had and what he could bring to the table.”
Riggs made his presence felt immediately in the season opener, when Steinert dominated the game but only won 1-0 on a Mike Fornaro goal.
“Their keeper was fantastic, he kept them in the game the whole time,” Fornaro said after the game.
It was the start of a seasonlong trend. Riggs continually faced double digit shots — and not the easy kind.
“He was facing 15, 20 shots a game, and not shots from 30, 40 yards out,” Fisher said. “These were quality, point blank shots he’s facing, and he was able to keep us in a lot of games that we might not have been in.”
While the team’s overall record wasn’t great, Riggs said, the Ravens were competitive in many of their games this season.
“There were a couple games where we fell apart, but we had injuries and they were good teams,” he said.
Riggs gave his team a chance despite the fact that at 5-foot-9, he is not the stereotypical goalie. To make up for his lack of height, Riggs said he does things like explosive jumps to improve his vertical leap.
“He’s got quick reflexes so he can make save most goalies can’t,” Fisher said. “I think his height helps him because he’s so much quicker laterally.”
The coach does see some opportunities for Riggs to develop his game further.
“One thing he needs to work on is just getting off his line and cleaning up his area in front of the goal, just owning it, so when they try to put the ball in you know it will be eaten up by him. That just comes with experience from playing with bigger guys,” Fisher said.
Robbinsville had Riggs playing behind an extremely young defense this year, including two sophomores, a freshman and a junior and senior in their first year on varsity.
“When I need something to be done with the players, I’ll go to him and say ‘I need you to do this,’ and he’s been really good with that, doing whatever I asked him to do,” Fisher said. “As a goalie, you have to be vocal if you want to be successful, and that’s one of his better attributes.”
Riggs said that while he misses the winning that went on at TCA, he was happy to be back with friends he grew up with this year. And since the team is so young, he’s looking forward to next season.
“We’ll be doing a lot of work together this summer,” he said. “I’m gonna get kids out and we’re going to work on things. We’re coming back with an older team, with more experience.”
And with yet another product of the Robbinsville High School goalie factory still in the net.
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