SKOKIE — Late in the first half of Glenbrook North’s 3-1 loss to Niles North, Vikings midfielder Ricky Torres lofted a ball over the Spartans’ defense.
Glenbrook North senior goalkeeper Gabe Gottlieb went charging out of his net for the ball, but Niles North striker Adrian Coardos beat him to it, lifting the ball over the keeper’s outstretched hands and into the net. The strike tied the score 1-1 on Sept. 3.
“I wanted the ball so bad, I needed it and knew if I didn’t go for it, it would have looked dumb,” Gottlieb said. “I came up short, maybe (coming off the line) was the right move, maybe it wasn’t. I was a fingertip short.”
Though Gottlieb didn’t make the stop, he said the goal would not change his aggressive style of goalkeeping. He routinely charges off his line to beat an attacker to a loose ball or to grab the ball off the feet of an onrushing forward.
At 5-foot-10, Gottlieb said it’s necessary for him to take a proactive approach to the position.
“I have to come off my line more because I’m not going to reach all the balls (if I hang back and wait for the chance to stop a shot),” he said.
Glenbrook North coach Paul Vignocchi said last week that Gottlieb’s play in net had been one of the bright spots thus far for the Spartans, who started 0-3.
“He was a backup last year, but worked extremely hard in the offseason,” Vignocchi said. “We have a new defense (five new defenders and Gottlieb) and he’s been our steady leader back there. He’s been pretty consistent. He’s kind of the glue that keeps us together right now.”
The coach said he likes Gottlieb’s aggressiveness, but that the keeper has to be smart about when he comes off his line.
“Sometimes he’s a little too aggressive, which we’ve been working on,” Vignocchi said. “He comes off his line quite a bit. We’ve been talking to him about that. But we’d rather have an aggressive goalie than somebody who sits back. We just have to make sure he learns when to come out and when the right time is (to sit back).”
Gottlieb said he has played aggressively ever since he first put the gloves on as an eighth-grader.
That season he started out as a defender, but he said he was bothered by a lack of aggressive play by the goalie behind him.
“I thought I could play the position better. I wanted to be aggressive (off the line), more than he was,” Gottlieb said. “One day, he didn’t show up and they asked, ‘Who wants to play goalie.’ I raised my hand and it’s been my position ever since. I’ve been aggressive the way he wasn’t ever since. I always push myself to get off my line and get every ball I can.”
Gottlieb mentored by his predecessors
Gottlieb said he has been heavily influenced by two of his predecessors in goal at Glenbrook North — Quinn McAnaney and Jack Pucin — even though they have somewhat different styles.
McAnaney was the Glenbrook North keeper when Gottlieb was a freshman and is now a redshirt sophomore at Michigan State. At 6-foot-3, McAnaney has plenty of physical tools, but Gottlieb said he was inspired to work hard at his craft by watching McAnaney.
“I knew he was going Division I. It was only my second year as a goalie and I thought, ‘Wow, if I can just practice, maybe I can get to his level,’ ” Gottlieb said. “Clearly, he’s over 6 feet and just an amazing keeper and I’m not quite there. But that really pushed me.”
Last season, Gottlieb said he learned a lot about the position by serving as Pucin’s backup. He is now trying to impart some of that knowledge on current No. 2 Teddy Shapiro, a junior.
“(Pucin) was a fantastic goalie,” Gottlieb said. “Just warming up with him and watching him play pushes me to be a much better player. Jack was an amazing mentor to me. Now, I’m trying to do that with Teddy.”
