North Jersey Female Athlete of the Week goes out on top after shootout heroics
If the decision was up to her, Maddie Kellogg may not have been on the soccer field for the state championship on Sunday.
She may not have made headlines for stopping two of the last three penalties to bring the Group 3 title back to Ramapo.
All she wanted to do at one point in life was play tackle football. It is, after all, probably her favorite sport to watch and one that's revered across the Ramapo community.
Luckily, her parents had other ideas.
"My parents wouldn't let me because you had to quit soccer," Kellogg said. "You couldn't do Torpedoes (club soccer) and Wyckoff football so they kept me on Torpedoes, which I guess I should thank them for. But I was not happy at the time."
Kellogg has found a happy medium all these years later. The Raiders senior is one of the top goalies in Bergen County and the quarterback for her school's flag football team in the spring.
Both roles call for a short memory and a deep sense of confidence, which Kellogg now considers her greatest strength as a goalie. As she put it on Sunday, bouncing back means more than the mistake.
"I think I really believe in myself even if I do mess up," Kellogg said. "I'm able to control my thoughts and put mistakes behind me where I can still do well and not let it get in my head. I think that's super, super helpful."
For Kellogg, a turning point in her career came last year when she won the starting job and started to fully grasp the importance of a goalie's mindset. Having that inner belief certainly came in handy on Sunday in a roller-coaster championship.
Cherry Hill West forced overtime with a last-minute penalty kick after Kellogg took down a player to prevent a breakaway. The Lions had a chance to win in the fifth round of shootouts, but Kellogg turned the shot away by reaching to her right. It's the moment she's watched over and over again, even though a much easier stop two rounds later officially clinched the win.
"It's more stressful waiting to see teammates take the shot," Kellogg said. "Obviously I knew there was a lot of pressure, but I realize now that I wasn't thinking about it too much. Now I realize what a big deal and how much was riding on that one single shot. But I really didn't think about it in the moment."
Kellogg started playing soccer when she was 8 years old and transitioned into a full-time goalie near the end of middle school. She made the varsity team as a freshman and finished her high school career strong with shutouts in the sectional final and state semifinals.
"Maddie has been the grounding force for our team's defense for the past two years," coach Maddie Gibbs said. "She brings the camaraderie with her sense of humor and personality. The team has always responded to her behind them very well."
Kellogg has tried to set a positive example for freshmen Ashley DeLeo and Grace Saxton, having been in their shoes not too long ago.
"I'm really, really good friends with Abby Hendrickson who's a sophomore," Kellogg said. "I think it's important to make the underclassmen feel welcome and feel like a valued part of the team."
Kellogg will have another week to process all her accomplishments before basketball tryouts start at Ramapo. Down the road, she wants to play soccer in college and take the pre-med track in biology.
For now, she's proud to say that she's 2-for-2 in her career in the shootout, including a two-day summer championship in middle school.
"I can always look back on (the state championship) and it's such a great memory in my head winning and being with all my teammates," Kellogg said. "It's pretty awesome. I couldn't ask for it to end any other way."
Maddie Kellogg
Sport: Soccer
School: Ramapo
Class: Senior. Age: 17
Accomplishment: Kellogg collected shutouts in the sectional final (10 saves) and state semifinals (nine).
Also nominated: Meghan Koeher of Tenafly for volleyball and Olivia Montalbano of Westwood for gymnastics.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: The Record Female Athlete of the Week: Maddie Kellogg, Ramapo
