Sept. 5, 2001

By BOB THOMPSON of the Tribune's staff
Story ran on Friday, August 31 2001

Missouri goalkeepers Megan Duncan and Stephanie Krawczyk want to get one thing straight as the Tigers get ready to kick off their 2001 season - there is no goalkeeping controversy.

The players have been waging a fierce competition for the starting job throughout the off-season, but it's only fierce on the field. Publicly, the self-described best friends say they not only have confidence in their own abilities, but in each other's skills, as well. So they don't really care which one is named the starter for tonight's season-opening game against Memphis or in Sunday's game against North Texas.

"Megan and I are a team - we're a goalkeeping team," Krawczyk said. "We push each other every day in practice, and we both believe that whoever's playing better that week deserves to start. If she's playing better, then I want her in goal, and she feels the same way, so there's no hard feelings at all.

"I think the whole team is pretty selfless like that - the best players play. Nobody sits on the bench and says, 'I deserve to be starting.' "

Still, both Duncan and Krawczyk realize that having a No. 1 goalkeeper established is a lot like naming a first-string quarterback in football. It's the most important and demanding position on the field, and experience under fire is crucial.

"I think for confidence and for the team's sake it is important that we have an established goalkeeper," Duncan said. "I think we each play different styles, so it's important for the team to be comfortable with whomever is back there. But I know that either one of us can do the job."

Krawczyk is probably the early leader, if only by default. Duncan has been hampered by a hamstring injury she suffered playing club ball this summer. She missed the first several weeks of two-a-days and just returned to the practice field earlier this week.

When they're both healthy it's almost a draw, according to head coach Bryan Blitz.

"It's an ongoing thing," Blitz said of the keeper competition. "We'd like to establish a starter for sure, but we're still comfortable with rotating them if we have to. We're hoping that one of them just kind of steps way up there and takes it."

Duncan was starting to blossom into a star last season until a rib injury sabotaged her season. The 5-foot-8 sophomore from Tulsa, Okla., played in 10 games, and started four. She led the squad with a goals-against-average of 1.39 and posted three shutouts with a record of 3-4.

Krawczyk, a 5-8 sophomore from Alaska, stepped in and also did an admirable job, going 3-3 with a GAA of 2.20.

Both believe the experience of playing as freshmen, though rocky at times, was invaluable.

What was a question mark last season with four inexperienced players vying for the position has now become one of the team's strengths. The Tigers have experienced depth in goal.

"This is such a higher level than high school or club," Duncan said. "We played the fifth hardest schedule in the nation, and as a freshman it was definitely a learning experience, but it was an awesome one. We're so far ahead now, and we're going to be so much more ready for everything this year."

As long as the two friends play at a high level, their Tiger teammates are genuinely indifferent as to which player they'd rather see in net.

"I don't think there is a better goalkeeper between Stephanie and Megan," senior defender Dyana Russell said. "They're both so equal that it's not going to matter who is back there."