Haakon Rumble is a goalkeeper for the Penn Soccer Team. He also plays Hockey.
How do you Mentally Prepare before a game?: To prepare mentally before a game, I focus on playing my game and not letting anyone get to me.
What’s the most challenging part of being a goalkeeper?: The most challenging part is the nerves, knowing that if you just make one mistake and let in just one goal, it could cost the game for the rest of your team.
How do you handle criticism?: I handle criticism by just not letting it get to me and not responding with anything and just focusing on my game.
What’s your favorite save that you’ve made in a game?: My favorite save that I’ve made in game was for my club team in the state finals where my team gave up a penalty kick in the last 10 minutes of the game and I saved it, but then the ref said I came off my line early so he got to retake it. But when he re-took it, I saved it again.
Who is your favorite teammate?: I don’t have a favorite teammate and I truly believe that they all contribute and do their parts and help us win every game.
What skills do you focus on improving the most in training?: Some skills I focus on improving are my side volley punts and working with my weak food to get more comfortable on the ball.
How do you handle the pressure in high-stakes moments (like penalty shootout)?: To handle myself, I take in deep breaths and try to think of it as no different from me playing in my backyard so then I feel little to no pressure.
Who’s been your biggest influence as a goalkeeper?: My biggest influence is definitely my upperclassmen goalies and my goalie coach, and I am so grateful to have them helping me every practice and helping me get better and better.
What advice would you give to someone new to the position?: Some advice I would give to someone new is to watch lots of YouTube videos on positioning in goal and technique on diving.
Who’s the toughest player to play against in practice?: The toughest player to face in practice is probably Harrison because he has the hardest shot on the team so it makes it harder to save.
