Last season, Wisconsin women’s soccer goalkeeper Genevieve Richard entered her final campaign with one last chance to establish her legacy on the program, and she certainly made her last 24 games count.
As Big Ten Goalkeeper of the year, Richard anchored a Badger defense to the conference tournament title and NCAA Tournament berth, all while delivering 16 shutouts along the way.
After such a dominant performance wire to wire in 2014, it’s almost unfair to whoever has to follow it up this upcoming season.
Enter Caitlyn Clem, a redshirt sophomore for the Badgers from Okemos, Michigan. As Courtney Clem’s, the former starting goalkeeper for Michigan State who finished second in the Big Ten in saves last season, younger sister, Caitlyn Clem isn’t a stranger to filling the shoes of those before her.
Living near East Lansing Caitlyn Clem grew up a Spartan, but she looked to play elsewhere, eager to make her own mark. Caitlyn Clem said she ultimately picked Wisconsin in part because of the quality of its program, but also joked that between Michigan and UW, two of her most viable options, the Badgers were the “lesser of two evils.”
“There’s no way I could be a Wolverine, and I just wanted to make my own path because I was going behind Courtney ever since I became a goalkeeper,” Caitlyn Clem said. “I came to Madison and fell in love with it — this place, the team and the coaches. So it was kind of easy not to pick Michigan State.”
After two seasons in the shadows, Caitlyn Clem’s opportunity has finally arrived to take the reins in Wisconsin’s backfield, and while the coaches are confident in her potential, they also realize it will take some time to fulfill.
One of UW head coach Paula Wilkins immediate expectations for Caitlyn Clem is an experienced demeanor. As Richard’s mentee, Wilkins hopes Caitlyn Clem will bring the same sense of level-headedness on the field that made Richard so successful.
“We want Caitlyn to be consistent, and that’s one of the things I think she learned from Gen,” Wilkins said. “We don’t get too high on our highs or too low on our lows, and we just do the simple things.”
But for UW assistant coach Tim Rosenfeld, Caitlyn Clem’s ability to stay poised is low on his list of concerns. With the opportunity to play year-round in spring and summer leagues, he doesn’t think Caitlyn Clem should have an issue with shaking off rust on the pitch.
The biggest challenge Rosenfeld sees for Caitlyn Clem is developing chemistry with the back line, learning the tendencies, strengths and weaknesses of each of her defenders. Solidifying the cohesiveness of the defense is a long and complicated process, one Rosenfeld hopes the team will master by the start of conference play.
“That’s going to take a little bit of time,” Rosenfeld said. “I’m not sure if you’ll see that this weekend or next week, but we’re hoping that relationship builds. And by the time we head into our Big Ten season, it should look similar to what it did last year.”
Working in Caitlyn Clem’s favor — as she continues building trust with her teammates — will be the returning experience on defense this season. Junior Kylie Schwartz, along with seniors Brianna Stelzer and Molly Laufenberg, played a key part in a defense that allowed just 0.42 goals per game last season.
Having seniority in the starting lineup will give Caitlyn Clem a distinct advantage during practice and game prep, as she tries to quickly complete the transition to Division I play.
“I had Gen to teach me a lot of these things, but even the older players teach me more and more everyday, so I look up to them for their guidance and we work off each other to get better,” Caitlyn Clem said. “Every break we have, we try to fix whatever’s being messed up and just work off each other.”
In a two-game sample so far this year, Caitlyn Clem has allowed just one goal in each contest and held steady in her first overtime action, as the Badgers won a 2-1 sudden death thriller Aug. 21 at home against Western Michigan.
If that’s any indication for the rest of the year, perhaps those big shoes will get filled quickly.
