At the start of the 2007 season, the Virginia women's soccer team began the preseason with a huge question: Who will start at goalkeeper? The conventional wisdom seemed to point toward junior goalkeeper Celeste Miles, an experienced veteran who backed up recently graduated goalkeeper Christina de Vries for two years. Miles recorded 72 shut-out minutes in 2006 and was an excellent candidate to fill the void in goal for the Cavaliers.
A decision, however, was made by coach Steve Swanson to start redshirt freshman Chantel Jones instead. It was assumed that Virginia would have to endure some growing pains and take its lumps early on while Jones adjusted to her new role.
That, however, has proven not to be the case. Jones has adjusted extremely quickly to being named the starter, posting consecutive shut-outs against well-regarded opponents Delaware and No. 15 West Virginia in her first two games this season.
"I think she's done really well," Swanson said. Her performance "makes a statement about what it means to redshirt a year and the advantages of that. I think the transition for her is much easier than it would be if this was her first game."
During Sunday afternoon's contest against West Virginia, Jones made a save that brought all of Klöckner Stadium to its feet in applause. In the first 10 minutes of the game, a Virginia defensive miscue led to a turnover deep in Virginia territory. Unaccompanied by any Virginia defenders, a West Virginia forward ended up with the ball and began streaking toward the goal for a one-on-one confrontation with Jones. The Cavalier faithful feared the worst but Jones stopped the point-blank attempt and preserved the scoreless tie. In the aftermath of Virginia's 3-0 win against West Virginia, Swanson noted how vital Jones's save was to the overall outcome of the game.
"The game could have turned on its heels if Chantel [Jones] doesn't come up with that save in the first 10 minutes," Swanson said. "That was a big time save at a critical time."
Although Jones lacks collegiate experience, she is not an inexperienced goalkeeper. Jones has the advantage of having participated in international competition -- most recently this summer when Jones participated in the Pan American Games with the U.S. U-20 team. The Americans, with Jones' help, won the silver medal in the Games. Jones' international experience has helped her immensely and likely gave her a leg up in the competition for the starting goalkeeper position this preseason.
"The fact that she has some experience playing in the Pan-Am Games and some big games this summer is important," Swanson said. "We have a lot of confidence in Chantel."
Jones is a tall goalkeeper, which enables her to cover the goal relatively easily. At 5-feet 11 inches tall, she is capable of intercepting corner kicks, crossing passes and clearing the ball effectively.
"Chantel gives us something that we haven't had in a long time and that's the ability to clear the ball out," Swanson said. "If we let a ball go back to Chantel, we know we're going to get it 60 or 70 yards out of pressure."
A collegiate soccer environment can be very difficult to deal with, especially during ACC games. Jones, however, has managed to take on her new role without experiencing the usual nerves that are prevalent in big game atmospheres.
"I've been in a lot of big games with the national team, so I'm pretty comfortable with big games," Jones said.
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