Graduate student and Drexel women’s soccer goalie, Joella Chase, was named CAA Defensive Player of the Week on Monday, Sept. 23. The title comes to no one’s surprise after Chase “earned 13 saves in the Dragons’ opening week of conference play,” according to Drexel Athletics. The New Jersey native had seven saves alone in the Towson match, five in the second half and six in the team’s draw with Monmouth.
“Ultimately, you have to trust your gut and be brave as a goalkeeper, or you won’t be successful. What helps me deal with pressure in these moments is always reminding myself of the tools I have learned from my coaches about how to read situations proactively before they happen, such as analyzing the striker’s first touch to see whether you can close down space or need to adjust your position in the net,” the twice-named Defensive Player of the Week said in an interview with The Triangle.
Chase also shared her communication strategy with the other players on the team.
“Something I am huge about prioritizing is communication with my backline, especially as I am the furthest player back on the field and have the best view of the pitch. This means I can often read opposing attacker’s runs before my teammates can, and communicating this to them early and often allows for us to get into the best position we can to deal with an opposing team’s attack, like crosses into the box,” Chase explained.
The keeper also highlighted how team chemistry is of the utmost importance because, in that position, you are the most trusted player on your team.
“This is not only because of the major responsibility of preventing goals from being scored, but also the demands the role has in organizing the defense, helping set the game tempo, and keeping the team composed. I always communicate with my defenders on the field throughout the game, but even off the field as well to talk strategy, such as at halftime. Off the field, I also have found it super important to build relationships and friendships with everyone on the team so that they can see me as a leader and someone with trustworthy character and work ethic,” said Chase.
Chase is completing her final year in the Television and Media Management Master’s Program. Previously, she completed her undergraduate education cum laude from Georgetown University in 2023 and was part of their women’s soccer team. Impressively, she also accumulated 364 saves throughout all four years of her high school career at Bergen County Academy.
The goalie mentioned her past keeper coaches aided her development to become a fantastic shot stopper and helped further her tactical game skills. Chase also highlighted the coach that has been there since the beginning.
”My dad has also been a huge influence in my career by pushing me to stick with the position. He is a huge sports guy and is the reason I got into soccer in the first place. I think him encouraging me to explore other sports growing up in addition to soccer – such as basketball and softball – really helped build my athleticism overall, ultimately shaping me into a stronger goalkeeper.”
Chase emphasized her main goals for the remainder of her time on the team are to stay healthy, contribute to wins and be a role model for the younger soccer players on the team.
“I take pride in my ability to keep the team in games at times and do not take any moment in net for granted, especially as my college career nears a close…our goal is always to make the CAA playoffs and have a good run at that. We unfortunately did not meet this goal last year so I think that is something that we are really trying to prove this year to other teams in the CAA that we deserve a spot and that despite being a young team, we are very talented and hard-working.”