Protecting the CAA crown

Cutchins delivers defensive edge with stingy goalkeeping, improves on freshman year

By Matthew McGovern, assistant sports editor
Posted on September 20, 2007

James Madison goalkeeper Kelsey Cutchins enters her sophomore season a year after helping JMU win its second Colonial Athletic Association championship in its ninth title game appearance. The underdog Dukes took only one shot to Old Dominion’s 23, but 14 saves by Cutchins made their one goal the difference.

Madison was ranked 13th in the Division I Coaches Poll following that accomplishment, but lost in overtime to Duke in the first round of the NCAAs. With one year of collegiate experience, Cutchins hopes to take on the challenge of a repeat and another shot at the NCAAs.

“We had hoped that she would challenge Merel [Broekhuizen], and she did more than that,” JMU coach Antoinette Lucas said. “Kelsey’s just gifted, she has a knack for what she does. But I would say [the] coaching by Julie Munson has been fantastic, and then to have two other great goalkeepers working with her every day; they push each other to be better.”

Cutchins felt a kinship with the goalies from day one, and that’s helped guide her maturation as a player.

“I’m automatically associated with a group within the team,” Cutchins said. “The goalies will always look out for each other.”

Cutchins, a native of Suffolk, Va., attracted JMU’s attention while playing in the U.S.A. Field Hockey Futures Program. In addition to playing for the Futures Team, she also played on her high school team all four years. Her  Futures Team’s goalies coach, Justine Sowry, was the link between Cutchins and JMU.

“I wasn’t initially looking at JMU, I was looking at places closer to home,” Cutchins said. “But Julie [Munson] contacted Justine and said ‘Do you know any good goalies’ and I think Justine recommended me.”

Sowry’s recommendation was justified by Cutchins’ performance in her first year. She was named Second-Team All-State by Virginia’s Sports Information Directors and finished the season strong in 2006. She posted back-to-back shutouts en route to the conference crown, and earned CAA All-Tournament honors for her efforts.

Cutchins continues to impress at the collegiate level and was recently named CAA player of the week for her performances against Penn State and Saint Joseph’s. During the weekend of Sept. 7-9, she played 145 shutout-minutes in goal for the Dukes, and had a career high 16 saves in the win over then No. 6 Penn State.

Asked about nerves at the beginning of a game, Cutchins said, “You get used to it; once you get that first shot over with, it’s definitely a lot easier from there.” Despite allowing three goals in Sunday’s loss to Virginia, she is still ranked 10th nationally in goals against average (GAA) at 0.97. Her GAA in 2006 was 1.27.

“She doesn’t get over-excited about anything, so she doesn’t overreact,” Lucas said about her goalkeeper’s poise. “I think she has a knack for reading body language and what the attackers are gonna do next.”

Cutchins traveled to Shanghai, China this past spring as a member of the United States U-21 National Team, and has been participating with the team since 2005.

She started playing field hockey for her high school when she was in eighth grade. Her middle school gym teacher was also the high school field hockey coach and used that day job to recruit for the team. Cutchins did not start out as a goalie, however.

“I tried out and made the team as a field player,” she said. “Our goalie was scared of the ball, so we needed a new goalie. My coach was like ‘Kelsey, just try on the pads.’”

Cutchins also competed in high school soccer and cross country, but realized field hockey was her forte. The move to goalie did take getting used to, as the bulky goalie gear gave her some problems initially.

“The first time you wear it you trip all over the place,” Cutchins said. “We were in a drill and I was following the ball, I tripped and fell and my coach thought I dove — she was like ‘good job Kelsey, you’re our new goalie’ … I never told her that I didn’t dive.”

The misstep was just part of the learning process, and her stats speak to her command of the goal these days. Cutchins showed a fast learning curve then, and certainly has in her college career.