Hill getting by with a little help from his friends
October 7, 1998
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Its just another week with every goalkeeper in the country chasing him. Thats where Oregon States Bryan Hill finds himself at the moment. In over six games this season, Hill has allowed just two goals, and that puts him on top of the leaderboard where NCAA Division I mens soccer goalkeepers are concerned.
Hill leads he nation in goals-against average, and has all season. GAA is soccers equivalent of baseballs earned run average, and the junior from Visalia, Calif., is allowing an average of a meager 0.29 goals for every 90 minutes played this fall.
Those numbers have helped the Beavers (4-2-1 overall) receive some votes in the regional rankings the past several weeks. OSU opens Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play this weekend with home games against Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo at 3 p.m. Friday and Cal-Santa Barbara at 1 p.m. Sunday.
Hill started the season by posting four straight shutouts and 510 scoreless minutes before those streaks were broken last weekend, but he still holds the nations top spot.
"Its great," Hill said. "Its great to see OSU get some credit on top of the boards, because were working our butts off. But the honor isnt a me thing, its an us thing. There are four or five guys working hard in front of me and thats whats giving us all the credit.
"Theyre stopping the shots; Im just there to pick up the garbage that comes through."
In addition to Hills standing on the list of national leaders, the Beavers this week are seventh in the nation in team defense (0.54 GAA) and 11th in shutouts per games played (.571; 4 in 7 games). OSU is getting results largely because the Beavers have defended well while the offense has been coming together.
"You can go through a game and not score for a lot of the game," OSU head coach Jimmy Conway said. "But the game is 90 minutes long, and people can make mistakes ... theyre going to come, and when they do you want to make sure that you havent given too many away."
Conway had the Beavers polish up a new defensive system last spring, concentrating on etting a lot of bodies around the ball. A back line led by senior Aaron Mamula, junior Svein Groem and sophomore Nathan Moroney has kept Hill from facing many dangerous chances.
"All good teams are built on defense," Conway said. "Whats helped is the players at the back - theyve been passing and changing the ball real well."
The Beavers have tried to play in a way that doesnt leave defenders isolated with attackers, giving them a chance to get at Hill. Most shots Hill has faced this fall have been from long range and fairly harmless.
In a 3-0 shutout of Loyola Marymount on Sept. 13, Hill had to make just one save. He made only three saves in a 1-0 win over Florida International on Sept. 20 and three more in a 2-1 overtime win over New Mexico last Sunday.
"The defense in front of him has built his confidence," Conway said of Hill. "In some games, he hadnt made many saves but he was getting notice because he was letting no goals in. Now weve had to call on him a good few times in the last few games and hes played well.
"He felt embarrassed about the recognition when he hadnt done much. But now hes earning it and getting confidence."
That comes in handy when things get more hectic, like a game at Gonzaga on Sept. 23. Hill was forced to make 15 saves to keep the Beavers in a 0-0 tie with the Bulldogs; thats the third-highest number of saves by a Division I mens goalkeeper in a game this season.
"Its great because it keeps you on top of your game," Hill said of facing the GU flurry. "You face four or five shots a game, then youre forced to step up and it makes you focus that much more. It challenges you, and I think a team like the one we have this year can step up to those challenges."
Hill and most of the other Beavers went through last falls dismal 4-12-2 season.
"Last year, we were so young," Hill said of the 1997 team that had 14 first-year Beavers. "We got a year under our belts playing together and weve grown from that. And weve brought in some guys who are also getting the job done, so it makes it that much easier for me."
It was easy enough for Hill that he was able to put together those strings of four straight shutouts and 510 scoreless minutes earlier this season.
"You sit and daydream about something like that," said Hill, who is OSUs career saves leader and is third on the career shutouts list. "Its a confidence-builder. You get more confidence in your decision-making, and coming from last year to this year, a little confidence needs to be made up.
"It gives not only me, but the team, confidence in knowing we can get it done. They can go out and concentrate on putting the ball in the back of the net."
Hills streak was broken by a penalty kick in a 1-0 loss at Air Force on Oct. 2, a call the Beavers vehemently disagreed with.
"It was definitely controversial, at the least," Hill said. "The penalty kick was a horrible call - it was a free kick, at the most. It was disappointing to have the streak end on such a nasty call, but it keeps you humble. You realize you cant always go through the game with a clean sheet ... it makes the team realize we cant go 1-0 or 0-0 all the time."
The Beavers finished their trip to the Air Force Tournament with the 2-1 overtime win against New Mexico, a game in which OSU trailed 1-0.
"Both games were hard, not just because of the altitude," Hill said. "But because we were down a goal in both of them. In the New Mexico game, we showed we can come back. Weve struggled with that the last few years, but a spark came out of this team.
"If we can take advantage of that, we can do some great things, especially with seven of our last 11 games at home."
Hill has taken notice of some other results up and down the West Coast. Gonzaga, a team OSU tied in Spokane, won 1-0 at traditional power Portland; defending national champion UCLA had to go overtime for a 2-1 win over Loyola Marymount, a team the Beavers beat 3-0.
"It shows there isnt a team that cant be beat," Hill said. "Its a great, exciting feeling. We havent been to the NCAA Tournament since Ive been here, and it would be great to have an appearance."
