Leah Drew said she didn’t have any “foot skills” as an eighth-grade soccer player in Caribou.

So she said her coaches figured that since she was kind of athletic, they’d stick her in goal.

“I mean, I played basketball and stuff, so I had kinda good hand-eye coordination,” said Drew. “I liked it right off the bat. I’ve been playing it ever since. It’s my favorite sport.”

Drew had an outstanding career at Caribou High School and has continued her exceptional play at Husson College in Bangor.

The senior has been a starter from day one at Husson and has posted 26 career shutouts, six shy of Meg Taylor’s school record.

She posted goals-against averages of 1.24, 1.15, and 0.87 and save percentages of .900, .871, and .900 leading up to this year.

So far this fall, she has a 1.00 GAA and .915 save percentage.

“She’s a real good goalie. She’s one of the strongest ones we’ve seen this season,” said Colby College senior midfielder Liz Morbeck.

Saint Joseph’s College coach Michael Bolanz concurred.

“She’s a very good goalkeeper. She has kept them in a lot of games,” said Bolanz. “I’m a goalkeeper myself and I have a lot of respect for her. She’s very commanding in her [penalty] area and she’s very sound technically. She’ll make all the saves she needs to make and she’ll also make the big-time saves you need.”

Drew said it didn’t take her long to learn the position.

“You’re either a goalie or you aren’t,” said the 21-year-old Drew. “It just came kind of naturally to me. I’ve played basketball all my life and with the hand-eye thing, I was able to spot the ball and just get something on it.”

She feels she has improved every season.

“My field perception is a lot better. I’m able to make better decisions with the experience I have. I have more confidence now,” said Drew, who thrives on the challenge that goes with the position.

“I like the pressure. You’ve got to keep moving around in there and keep your head. I like being the last line of defense, making a great save and having [opponents] swearing at me.”

Husson College coach Keith Bosley said Drew is “very smart” and has excellent range.

“She has great springs [side-to-side] and big ups [vertical],” said Bosley. “And she’s willing to sacrifice herself to make a save.”

Maine Maritime Academy coach Craig Dagan said Drew is very aggressive and considers her “one of the better ‘keepers in our conference [North Atlantic Conference].”

University of Maine-Farmington coach Bob Leib said, “She’s very tough to score on. If you get a goal on her, you’ve earned it. She doesn’t give up any cheap ones. If she has a chance to get to the ball, she’s probably going to save it.”

The 5-foot-6, 140-pound physical therapy major hopes to lead her Eagles to the NAC title and its automatic NCAA Division III tournament berth.

“We’d like to at least get past the first round of the NCAA Tournament, and I think we can,” said Drew.

Salovitch tackles D3 Team

Junior linebacker Ross Salovitch became the first Husson College football player ever to be named to the d3football Team of the Week after recording 15 tackles in a 21-7 win over Utica College on Sept. 9.

He also led the team in tackles with nine in a 14-13 win over Norwich last week.