Addie Ihlefeld joined the Notre Dame High field hockey program as a freshman for the simple purpose of making friends. Little did she realize it would lead to making saves.
The junior from Lawrenceville and ND’s starting varsity goalie had never played the sport before her ninth-grade year, when she landed on the Irish’s freshman team.
“We were looking for someone to play goalie,” Ihlefeld said. “I wasn’t 100 percent set on being a goalie. I told the coaches if they couldn’t find one then I would definitely do it. But if they found somebody else who wanted to be it, I’d be totally fine with just playing the field. It ended up that the other girls that tried it did not like it, so I just stepped up and played it, and I just loved it.”
Well, she loved it as a freshman, when the shots being faced weren’t all that challenging.
“At the freshman level it’s not as intense so the balls getting hit weren’t that hard and they weren’t in my face,” she said with a laugh. “They were mostly on the ground. It was easier to ease into it with those shots. And then getting to last year on varsity it was a lot harder, a lot scarier. It was best for me to have that freshman year on the freshman team.”
Ihlefeld was promoted as a sophomore and backed up Juliana Ross in goal. Addie did not get much time during the Irish’s 12-6-1 season, but when she was inserted during games that ND were winning by a lot, she did not look comfortable.
“She was like ‘Are you sure you want me in?’” coach Cheryl Harris said. “She was very timid. We weren’t putting her in situations where she would fail. We were only putting her in situations where we knew she would do well. She’d get a couple balls and that would be about it. The difference from last year to this year is that she’s just fierce now.”
Ihlefeld came back as a changed goalie this season, and much of it had to do with her dedication to the sport. She attended the pick-up scrimmages played at Centercourt Club & Sports on Spruce Street, where goalies were allowed to play for free in the bubbled complex.
“She would take advantage of our team workouts and then she would go to Centercourt and learn from other goalies,” Harris said. “Addie just showed up and got a few pointers from people. She does things to improve herself.”
She did even more to improve during training camp. When Ihlefeld told Harris she would be unable to be at the season’s third game with Allentown, the Irish knew they had to come up with a back-up goalie. Mollie Cleary began working hard in that role; prompting Allie to pick up her pace.
“That made me push to want to do better because I want to be the starter,” she said.
“When she saw this new girl step in, it lit a fire under her, like ‘I’ve gotta beat this girl out,’” Harris said. “It was actually a competition where she needed to prove herself to us. And she’s doing it, every day she’s proving to us she belongs in that starting lineup. She saw ‘Hey, it’s not directly my job, someone else could be in this position and I want it.’ So we saw that come out in her. She tries hard every day.”
In the season opener, Ihlefeld allowed two goals in a loss to Robbinsville that made her unhappy. But Harris felt neither score was her fault.
“One was over her head, she jumped up and tried to get it and it tipped off the tip of her fingers and into the net, there was nothing she could have done about it,” Harris said. “Even their last goal was a blast from the same player. But she also made some really good saves.
“That poor girl, I know she’s taking on the weight of the team. This is the first time that she’s been our lead goalie. She’s still learning. She has a little way to go but I’m feeling good about having her in goal.”
One thing is certain, Ihlefeld has lost that timidness she had as a sophomore.
“I feel a lot more comfortable,” she said. “The first game it was a little disappointing to give up the two goals. But it was nice to know that the team and coaches were saying that they were good goals by the other team. Centercourt helped make me more confident and also gave me more practice. At the beginning of our first game I was nervous but I got very comfortable as the game went on.”
Harris said her attitude has been a far cry from last year, saying “she definitely wants to play.”
One thing the goalie needs to improve on, according to her coach, is talking more to her defense. Aside from saving shots, goalies are also traffic directors in the back. But Harris feels that will come in time.
“She’s extremely coachable,” she said.
She has also become extremely fearless.
“She will dive for a ball, she’s not afraid of it,” the coach said. “She does a good job transitioning from one side of the goal to the next.”
“As for her other attributes, Harris said, “She’s good at shuffle stepping to get to the ball. Her clears still need a little bit of work. She’s still working on that. But if she sees a situation, she’ll react. Robbinsville had a breakaway, it was her and the forward. She came right out, charged at that ball with no fear at all. If you would have told me that last year about her I would have said ‘No that’s not Addie.’ So she’s gotten better there.”
Ihlefeld had a shutout in her second game against Hamilton, although no saves were necessary. And while she was unhappy about the Robbinsville game, allowing two goals to the Ravens is no disgrace considering they scored 17 in their first four games.
In her own self-assessment, a modest Addie feels much of her improvement is just due to natural ability.
“A lot of times I think it’s just instincts,” she said. “Some of the goals I’ll save, especially in practice, I won’t think about moving to the ball but it will just happen. So, it just happens.”
It has been happening a lot more this season, according to Irish forward Ellie Marrone.
“She’s been amazing,” Marrone said. “Juliana really taught her well. Juliana was kind of her personal trailer. She really improved her skills on blocking high shots. She’s blocked almost everything. It definitely makes us more comfortable knowing she’s back there.”
Addie Ihlefeld of Lawrence Township is the starting varsity goalie for the Notre Dame field hockey team.,
