Lawrence high goalkeeper Sean Simmons fields a slow roller on goal midway through the first half of Monday's 7-1 loss to Blue Valley West at YSI.

An avid soccer player since the age of five, Lawrence High junior Sean Simmons didn’t choose to become a goalkeeper. It chose him.

Throughout most of his youth soccer days in Lawrence, Simmons played primarily as a midfielder. Then, by chance during a practice when he was 12, he gave goalkeeping a shot.

“Some guy gave me his gloves,” Simmons recalled. “We were just messing around in practice.”

It was then that Simmons was drawn to the exhilaration of protecting the goal from oncoming shots.

Although it may look like Simmons is standing in front of a firing squad at times, he’s not asking for a blindfold and a cigarette.

“I like the adrenaline rush,” he said.

Simmons and the Lions opened up the season with a 5-0 shutout against Junction City, but since have struggled to score, going 402 minutes during a five-game span without a goal or a victory.

The Lions’ goalkeeper kept his team in the first four losses, allowing an average of two goals a game, before an off night against a talented Blue Valley West squad that beat Lawrence 7-1 on Monday.

At times like that it would be easy for Simmons to regret his move to keeper, especially since he entered the preseason this year thinking he might play some midfield.

“Sean sort of came out of semi-retirement to play this year,” said LHS coach Bill Kelly, explaining that Simmons played well in the field last year but won the goalie position in preseason tryouts this season.

Given the Lions’ struggles, it also would be easy for him to blame his teammates for the lack of scoring support, but Simmons isn’t the kind of player to point a finger at someone else. He’s happy to be in goal and he doesn’t let the tough losses bring him down.

“Sean’s a positive kid,” Kelly said. “Having a positive outlook is probably the foremost of what they need.”

While a casual observer may point a finger at the goalkeeper when a ball is kicked past him, the Lions understand that the entire team – not just Simmons – is responsible when the other team puts a bulge in the old onion bag.

“The team can’t expect that the goalkeeper’s going to be the only one to stop the goals,” Kelly said.

Still, Simmons said there is a lot of pressure that comes with being the last line of defense.

In those situations, Simmons is mentally prepared to do anything and everything within his physical power to stop that ball.

“When I’m going after the ball everything slows down for me,” he said. “You’ve got to ignore hitting the ground and ignore any bumps and bruises you may get because your main objective is to get the ball, and you’ve got to do it for the team … It’s just part of the job.”

Kelly said Simmons possesses the fearlessness it takes to be a keeper.

“It takes a lot of guts to go out and meet somebody that’s running head-on toward you and head-on toward the ball because you know a collision’s going to occur,” he said, adding that there is a pay-off for being a gritty goalie.

“The reward comes when the team scores or the team wins or you have a really satisfying game because you keep your team in the game,” Kelly said.

Unfortunately for Simmons and the Lions (1-5), so far this season his rewards have mainly come in the form of keeping his team close. But Simmons doesn’t get down on his teammates, and they don’t get down on him.

“We always encourage each other,” Simmons said. “You can’t have a negative attitude out on the field.”

Simmons is so positive, in fact, that he claimed he needed to do a better job of getting the offense more scoring chances

“I think I have the potential to possibly start something,” he said, explaining that he could do so by throwing out to the sidelines and punting it up the field to the offensive zone in a more effective manner.

“When you get the ball you’ve got to run out to the corner of the box and get it out as far as you can,” the keeper said of providing a counter attack. “That’s what it’s all about – firing back at them.”

The Lions appreciate that attitude and Simmons’ work ethic, Kelly said.

And Kelly appreciates the candor with which he and Simmons are able to speak to each other about his performance. Following every match, the two talk about the keeper’s play and break down what he did right and wrong from a technical standpoint.

“Most of the time we come to a consensus together on whether or not it was a good game, a so-so game, whatever,” Kelly said.

The goalie-coach relationship is solid for Lawrence High, thanks to the solid kid the Lions have in goal.

“He’s just a good, well-rounded young person,” his coach beamed. “He always has a smile on his face and is willing to work hard for what his goals are.”