Every athletic season, at least one hard-to-believe story emerges that makes people stop and take notice. Such a saga unfolded on West Windsor’s Old Trenton Road this year when the Mercer County Community College women’s soccer team enjoyed an outstanding campaign with a freshman goalie, whose previous experience consisted of playing one season of JV ball at Nottingham High.
Asked how she felt in her first game between the sticks in college, Shaunice Palms didn’t sugar coat things.
“I was scared,” she said.
That didn’t last too long. By the end of the match, Palms had made nine saves and Mercer emerged with a 1-0 season-opening victory over Ocean.
When the National Junior College Athletic Association Division I, Region XIX Tournament began on Oct. 26, Mercer had a 13-3 record and Palms had 10 shutouts. Her goals-against average of 1.44 was slightly skewed due to the three Viking losses in which she allowed 18 goals. Take those out of the equation and she had a 0.38 GAA.
During the week of Sept. 18-25, Palms was named the Garden State Athletic Conference Goalie of the Week and NJCAA Division I Goalie of the Week when she recorded 18 saves in three straight shutouts.
Just a year ago, she was trying to make saves on shots by sophomores and freshmen in high school.
“She’s progressed very nicely for us,” first-year coach Elyse Diamond said. “She does have athleticism, and she’s a very coachable young lady, and she’s done a good job for us. I can’t help but give a lot of credit to everybody on that field. Shaunice is a force in the back, but it’s everybody.”
It has to be, considering her experience.
For her first 17 years on this earth, Palms was strictly a basketball player. Diamond was Nottingham’s freshman hoops and varsity soccer coach, and from the start she encouraged Shaunice to play soccer, just to get in shape for basketball.
“I kept saying ‘No, no, soccer’s not for me,’” Palms said. “But I finally decided to do it.”
Palms came out her senior year and, of course, having the last name of Palms it stood to reason she would play the only position on the field where a player can use their hands.
Since Diamond was with the varsity, Palms worked every day with goalie coach Scott Innocenzi, whose reports to Diamond were that, “she’s developing and she picks up things quickly.”
She may have been picking things up, but she wasn’t really down with the sport.
“I was more nervous than excited,” she said. “It was just frustrating because I had to learn new things with a whole new sport. I didn’t warm up to it. I remember the very first day it was so hot and we had to do perimeters. I was so out of shape and I was like, ‘Oh my goodness, I can’t do all this running.”
And that was before they started ripping shots at her.
“I was scared to catch it,” she said. “I’d just hit it out of the way, but they told me if I had the opportunity, I should catch it, so I didn’t give the other team a chance to shoot in a rebound.”
Palms admitted she wanted to quit, but didn’t.
“I’m not a quitter,” she said. “I never quit.”
Palms figured her soccer career was one-and-done until Diamond convinced her to come out for the Vikings this fall.
“Because I had just played, she figured I could learn it again,” Palms said. “I really didn’t want to. She was telling me they have two goalie coaches that could teach me how to do everything I need to know. When she told me that, I thought it wouldn’t hurt to try. I was already going to play basketball, so I might as well play another sport.”
Palms quickly realized that Division I JUCO soccer was a whole other level than high school JV. Despite her nerves, she paid attention to her coaches and leaned on encouraging teammates. She was also helped by a strong defensive unit that featured Hamilton West grad Jamie Bogdol.
“Jamie’s solid,” Diamond said. “She doesn’t do anything fancy, she does her job. She contains and distributes the ball out of the backfield.”
“She’ll do the last-minute things,” Palms said. “She’ll make those clutch plays when she has to.”
Palms and Diamond both agreed that the goalie’s transition to collegiate soccer was aided by the support she got in the back. But Palms worked feverishly during the season to improve such things as coming out to cut down angles, calling for a ball on corner kicks and anticipating where the ball might go.
“Corner kicks are very nervewracking,” she said. “I never know when to come out. You’re supposed to yell ‘Keeper!’ but I have a problem saying keeper, so they’ll always come on my back. Sometimes they place it right in front of me and I can’t decide when to come out or not. It’s so hard. But I try.”
Palms reiterated several times how much her teammates aided her and gave her confidence. To the keeper’s credit, she remained upbeat after her first loss, in which she was torched for eight goals by nationally ranked ASA. She also had 19 saves in the match.
“I couldn’t second guess how many goals were scored,” she said. “Coming out of it I learned a lot. It actually built my confidence because it was a learning game, and I had a lot of saves.”
Her lessons continued throughout the season and into the regions, and what Palms lacked in knowledge she made up with in athleticism.
“Basketball is a big part of that,” she said. “Jumping, getting off my feet.”
“She’s still learning a lot of stuff and relying on the experience of the backfield a lot,” Diamond said. “She’s doing a great job for us up high. I don’t think you can beat her up high because she’s that strong. But as far as working on her one-v-one, we need work on it. We’re trying to teach her angles and stuff.”
And will Diamond have another season to work with Palms next year?
“The team truly encourages me, so I’ll think about coming,” she said. “I hope we get another goalie to work with, so there’s not as much pressure on me. But I do love it now.”
Mercer County Community College women’s soccer goalie Shaunice Palms recorded a 13-3 record and 10 shutouts this season.,
