Athlete Of The Week: Kevin Anderson

Kevin Anderson had another big day Wednesday.

The  senior turned 18, which meant he could buy lottery tickets. Which he did, a scratch-off, and he won a free ticket.

“It’s not much of a win,” Anderson said, “but hey, it’s like, I guess a dollar.”

Anderson also helps ’s varsity soccer team win. As a senior goalkeeper, he recorded his fifth shutout of the season Tuesday via a 2-0 win over Wheaton North. He’s only allowed three goals this year.

The Huskies are 6-0-1 this year, are Best of the West Tournament champions and are ranked eighth regionally by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. And Anderson’s a captain of the team.

Goalkeepers aren’t usually the most talked about players. So exactly who is Kevin Anderson? To the soccer team, Kevin Anderson is pretty much the same thing as Kevin Anderson to  in general. I think I’m just a goofy, happy-going guy that kind of just wants to help other people succeed in their day. On the soccer field, I don’t really do much. You said I have five shutouts through seven games, but I mean I’m pretty much back there just communicating. I’m not really like actually touching the ball as much. I guess I’m more of a supporting person, helping other people step up to do their job.

How vocal are you during a game? Is there one thing you seem to repeat over and over to your defense? The one thing I kind of repeat over and over to our defense is just kind of pinch and drop in, because a lot of the time, if I’m not talking our defense can get a little lazy and that’s when we get problems. But I think I kind of really stepped up this year, kind of gotten more mature playing soccer. Because like I said, I’m kind of a goofy guy. I kind of like to screw around, and sometimes that gets ahead of me and I can’t be as serious as I need to be. But this year I kind of really have cracked down, taken the game seriously.

Have you ever been hoarse after a game? I really don’t know what this is but the past few games I have kind of lost my voice, but I don’t know if it’s because I kind of had a cold recently or if it’s because I keep going to these football games where I’m just yelling at our team to like help them out. I don’t know if it’s just a mixture of too much yelling, but these last couple of games I have had a few voice cracks in there because I’m starting to lose my voice.

How many pairs of goalie gloves do you go through in a year? In a year, I tend to have a pair of gloves for games so I can usually stick with that one pair through a season. But I’ll have kind of like an older pair, maybe a cheaper pair that I use for practices. So I’d say between practices and games, just a couple, maybe two, three gloves a season.

How do you know when it’s time for a new pair? I kind of do get superstitious with my gloves, especially game gloves. I like to have the same game gloves. If I’m playing well with a game glove, I want that glove every start of a game. But I try to keep that pair of gloves the whole season so I know I finish that season the same way I started it. ... I think it’s more that when I go to catch the ball I’m not catching it, or if when I get a gaping hole in one of the gloves, that’s one of the other tells that I need a new pair.

What do you think stinks worse, a pair of goalie gloves or hockey pads? I had a couple hockey friends and I knew they were pretty bad, but I mean, goalie gloves, those things can get really bad. Like, I’ve had a few practices where I’ve had to drive home with my hands out the window because that smell’s still on them. It’s hard to find a ride home after practice.

Love penalty kicks? Or hate ‘em? To me, I love ’em. If you go into a penalty kick, whoever’s making that kick is supposed to make it. That’s what everyone’s saying, ‘They have to make this.’ I feel there’s less pressure on me. I just go out and guess a side. If I make it, you kind of get that thing, whoah, you’re kind of being a hero here. You’re stepping up, making the big save. If it goes in, hey, it’s just supposed to go in. The other thing that can come out of a PK shootout is you lose, you’re supposed to lose. If you win, it’s like, you get that mound of confidence that’s just like there’s no better feeling.

Major League Soccer: The real deal? Or, what’s the deal with that? I think it’s growing. I think it’s hard with the way the United States is. It’s like we get all of our Major League Soccer players from the United States — this is like the fourth-tiered sport in America. You’ve got like our best athletes playing football and our other athletes playing basketball; you have athletes playing hockey and baseball. I mean, it’s hard to find premier athletes playing that sport.

Do you model your play after any professional goalkeeper? I’ve never really been the type to model my play after someone. I think that’s part of my attitude is just being a goof; I kind of just go out and play. I mean, the thing that got me into goalkeeping is that I had so much energy that I was willing to dive all over the place. I haven’t really taken the time out to say I really want to be like that guy, but I’ve taken bits and pieces from all the coaches and players I’ve played with. They’ve always given me advice, so the best people to model after are my coaches and other teammates.

Finish this sentence: In order to win state, the  Huskies have to ... keep getting better. As of right now, people see us as a good team but there’s no team in the world, there’s no player in the world that can’t get better at something. There’s no perfect player, no perfect team, and , if we just keep playing the way we’re playing right now, we’re not gonna get very far. But if we take the steps forward — if we all lock down, if we all concentrate — I think together we really have that shot of moving forward. 

One more thing from Anderson: I kind of want to give a shout-out to my friend Tony Leon. He gave me a T-shirt back in freshman year that says, ‘Vote for Tony,’ for his student government campaign. And I didn’t have an undershirt one day and sophomore year I started wearing that underneath my goalie jersey; I’ve worn it ever since. These past few seasons have been pretty successful seasons. That’s one of my things I have to do every game is have that shirt washed and ready to wear. It’s more important than my gloves, my shoes or my jersey.