The life of a high school student is never easy, and senior Julia Riley is no exception to that. The star goalie of the Ossining Varsity Field Hockey team not only has to focus on her performance on the field, but she also is an outstanding student who’s drive and motivation carry over into the classroom as well. The Current had the opportunity to sit down with Riley to discuss her field hockey career and the road ahead.

TC: How long have you been playing field hockey for?

JR: I was first exposed to field hockey and began playing for fun when my older cousin began bringing me with her to Coach Lees’ clinics in 2nd grade. However, it was not until 7th grade on modified that I played on an organized team as a center defenseman, and I didn’t begin to play goalie until 8th grade. Since my 8th grade season, I have played field hockey year round with varsity in winter and summer leagues.

TC: Being a goalie is a very demanding position. Why did you choose it?

JR: There were a lot of factors that contributed to my decision to become a goalie in 8th grade; I already loved the position from when I played soccer as a child and because it was my position on the modified lacrosse team. When my modified coach said that someone would have to take up the position in my 8th grade year, my cousin was varsity’s starting goalie, and I knew she would be willing to teach me. I chose the position because the circumstances were right and because it seemed like something that would come naturally to me based on my prior experiences, and even though it can be difficult to maintain a positive mentality sometimes when goals go in, I love the position and wouldn’t change my decision.

TC: What is your favorite part about being goalie?

JR: I love the fact that goalie is such a high-pressure position. In an athletic setting, pressure helps keep me awake; it’s easier for me to function under a lot of pressure because I don’t have time to overthink and I have to just go with my instinct and react. I also love the high you get after a great save and the knowledge that I have to be doing my best at every moment that I’m needed because an entire team is depending on me and the entire outcome of some games could change depending on how I play.

TC: What would consider your most memorable moment in your field hockey career so far?

JR: My most memorable moment has to be a tie between our sectionals win against John Jay East Fishkill last year and our scrimmage playday at the beginning of this year. In the sectionals game, we were a seed lower than John Jay and were expected to lose, especially because we had to play them on their grass home field when we normally play on turf. I had a shutout, we won by one goal, and the giant smiles on everyone from my team’s faces after the game made all of our hard work that season up until that moment 100% worth it. The scrimmage playday was awesome because it ended in a series of one on ones, which are like ice hockey shootouts, and strokes, which are like soccer penalty kicks. I made every save (I even surprised myself on some of them), and afterward the coaches from one team told me that I was exceptional and they were looking forward to reading about me in the papers, and a coach from another team who runs a goalie camp in long island said that I was one of the best she’d ever seen.

TC: What are your personal goals for this season?

JR: Personally, my most obvious individual goals are to prevent other team’s goals by having a lot more shutouts and to get better at running a tight defense. Part of my job is supposed to be communicating with the defense and letting them know what they have to do, and sometimes we don’t have the best understanding of what we want from each other. That’s often just as important as improvement skill-wise, and it’s something we need to patch up as we go.

TC: How do you get yourself ready for a game?

JR: Throughout the day, I try to periodically focus in on the upcoming game what I want to achieve. After we run, stretch, and do dynamic stretches, I practice clearing a little more and do some more stretching in my equipment so that I’m ready to bend in any way I have to to stop the ball. During and after I’m being shot on as a warm up, I visualize some of the improbable saves I’ve made as well as the kinds I make every day, and I just try to get myself in a mindset conducive to success.

TC: Do you play any other sports?

JR: I also play as a forward on our school’s ice hockey team. Even though I’m much better at field hockey and I’ve been playing field hockey much longer, I love ice hockey also. Recreationally, I play football with my family.I used to play lacrosse for the school team as well, but I stopped playing after sophomore year. When I was little, I played soccer and fenced.

TC: How do you balance sports, school work and all your other extracurricular activities?

JR: Hahahaha, not very well! Time management is rough because I want to devote so much of my time to field hockey, but I also don’t want that to take away from science research or things like periodically writing for the Journal News. I cram a lot of work into my off periods, and I don’t have much time to just have fun when I get home after practice.

TC: Are you looking to play sports in college?

JR: I keep asking myself this question, and truthfully, I don’t know yet. I definitely want to continue playing intramural and club sports, but I need to wait and see what kinds of colleges I get into and what kinds of opportunities come up before I know if I’ll play actual collegiate-level sports in college, but if I did, it would almost certainly be field hockey.

TC: Have you narrowed down any schools/majors?

JR: I know that I definitely want to go to school for science. If all goes according to plan I’m going to major in either biology or biochemistry and minor in neuroscience, and then try to get a Ph. D in neuroscience. Two of the schools that I really like a lot so far are Georgetown and Cornell because they have great science programs, but both are really tough school to get into, so I’m putting out the best application I possibly can and hoping they like what they see!