Power Goalkeeper

When you first see Byron Foss on a soccer field, he looks terribly out of place. You wonder what a 6-foot-5, 205-pound kid with a menacing look is doing standing between two posts shouting instructions to his teammates. Shouldn’t he be playing outside linebacker or power forward somewhere?

But when the game starts and Foss’ body begins flying through the air, knocking down any ball or opponent who comes within his sacred territory, it all makes sense.

“He’s the tallest goalkeeper I’ve ever had,” Santa Margarita Coach Curt Bauer said. “But that size is a tremendous advantage for him in getting to balls in the air. Last year in the playoffs, he dominated the box.”

Not much has changed this year. Foss has 13 shutouts for the third-ranked Eagles (15-3-3), who are the defending Southern Section Division III champions. He has signed a letter of intent to play for Southern Methodist.

Not bad for a kid who didn’t begin playing soccer until five years ago.

“The coach said he wouldn’t take me unless I played goalie,” Foss said. “I said, ‘What the heck, I’ll try it.’ I loved it right away.

“I like the pressure. I work well under pressure. Our team’s success depends on me playing well. I’m the last line of defense. If I screw up, we’re in trouble.”

There hasn’t been much trouble of late for Santa Margarita’s soccer team; Foss will be the fifth Eagle goalkeeper to play Division I college soccer in the last five years. Matt Reis is a senior at UCLA and was recently named the most valuable defensive player of the NCAA tournament. Brian Cassola and Ben Froehlich are juniors at Portland and St. Mary’s and Sean Spreen is a sophomore at Florida.

“I don’t know why we’ve had so many good ones,” Bauer said. “A lot of teams struggle without a great keeper. We’ve been fortunate.”

Maybe, but Bauer also has helped his goalkeepers improve by hiring them a private coach during the season.

“I don’t have enough time or knowledge to properly train a goalkeeper the quality of Byron,” Bauer said. “They don’t stay as sharp as the other players because they’re not constantly getting work, so you have to have somebody to keep their fundamentals sharp and keep them focused.”

Bauer became concerned that Foss might be losing focus this season when he gave up two goals in a loss to Saddleback in the semifinals of the Trabuco Hills holiday tournament.

“They were two goals he always gets,” Bauer said. “Other keepers might let them go by and people don’t care. Byron was devastated. He apologized to the team. He felt he let them down.”

When Foss makes a mistake, he’s the first to admit it. And when a teammate makes a mistake, Foss will usually let him know about it. “I’ve played with most of these guys forever,” he said. “I feel like I can say anything to them and they won’t take it the wrong way.”

Bauer said there’s a reason Foss’ comments aren’t resented.

“We don’t get many three-year letterman on our team,” Bauer said. “That alone, plus his work ethic, make him a very respected player.”

Foss makes sure that respect extends beyond his team. Whenever he can, Foss shows the opposing team he’s boss.

In a recent game, a Woodbridge player roamed into Foss’ domain while following a loose ball. After Foss cleared the ball by booting it halfway down the field, he landed hard on the Woodbridge player, who stayed down for a while before limping to the sideline.

“The guys coming into my area,” Foss said, “need to know that I’m going to do everything I can to keep the ball out of the net.”