Corder's Late Move to Goalie Proved to be Right Fit

The first time Aubrei Corder played goalie, she didn’t even have a goalkeeper’s jersey. In fact, she didn’t have one the entire season, because it was supposed to be a temporary move. At the time, Corder was a forward, who voluntarily stepped in as goalkeeper. The team’s starter tore her ACL and the back-up was giving up a lot of bad goals.

“She was not even trying and that just really got to me,” Corder said. “I knew she probably didn’t want to be there, but she just didn’t have the heart for it.”

So Corder talked to her coach and offered to play keeper.

“I thought, ‘I have good size. I’m good with my hands,’” Corder said.

The team went to nationals that year and finished fifth.

Corder assumed that would be the end of her goalie career. “I figured [my coach] was going to find someone [else to play keeper],” Corder said. “We just needed to get through the season. I’m going to do my best, but then he asked me at the end of the season if I wanted to be a goalie.”

Corder said yes and so began the transition from Aubrei Corder: field player to Aubrei Corder: goalkeeper. Corder began training as a goalkeeper. As someone who was homeschooled, Corder wasn’t allowed to play with the public schools. She got the opportunity to play club soccer with Ohio Premiere and would make the six-hour long round trip once a week for practices.

“My mom would drive and I’d be doing homework in the car,” Corder said. “We’d drive three hours, practice, stay overnight, practice [again] and then go home.”

Corder started researching coaches across the country. Eventually she found current Nebraska assistant coach Marty Everding, who is known for transforming field players to successful goalkeepers. Corder attended summer camps at Nebraska where she got the opportunity to work with Everding. Everding would eventually play an important role in Corder’s decision to come to Nebraska.

But, Corder had another tie to Nebraska.

“Peter Underwood was my coach in West Virginia, back when I was first starting out, before he moved around the country and started coaching college,” Corder said.

Underwood was a coach at Nebraska for four years before tragically dying in a car accident in May 2015. Despite his early passing, he still had an incredible impact on his players, including Corder.

“He was a huge [influence on my soccer career],” Corder said. “Not only do we share a love for the game, but we also share our faith. That made our bond so much stronger, so I’ve always looked up to him. He always encouraged me not only to be a better player and push myself, but not to go through the motions. Whether it’s on the field or off the field, with my character and how I treat people. [He also taught me] to be a leader. He’s been a huge, huge impact [on me].”

Now, every time Corder steps on the field, she has a small piece of Underwood still with her.

“I have a quote from him, written on my gloves,” Corder said. “’Don’t go through the motions.’ That’s what he coached us. Don’t go through the motions on the field, off the field [or] with people. Make relationships [and] work your hardest.”

So that's what she does - works hard, which earned her the starting spot at goalie as a freshman, something she was hoping for, but not expecting.

“I came in [knowing] that I was going to work my hardest [to start], while still having humility,” Corder said. “Coming to the field and coming to practice and giving everything that I had, hoping that that would be the result and if it was, stepping up to that task and giving everything that I have. I know I’m going to make mistakes and I’m not afraid of that so that’s how I think I’ve grown so much since I’ve gotten here.”

So far this season, Corder and the Huskers have a 7-3 start.

As the Huskers continue conference play, the games are only going to get harder, but Corder has plenty of people to lean on.

“I’m not a nervous person, but getting into these bigger games, I’m starting to feel a little nervous,” Corder said. “But [the whole team is] an amazing support system. Everyone is there, supporting you and encouraging me."

Now, even though Corder has won the starting spot, she is not content and continues to better herself and her play every day.

“I still wanted to work my hardest and if I was starting that game, I wanted to prove that I deserved that and not just relax,” Corder said. “My coaches encouraged me to not be content, to challenge myself and not to compare myself to the other goalkeepers and just to strive to better me and all of my play.”

But to Corder, soccer is about more than being the best, something she learned from Underwood.

“He would always ask me, ‘Are you still having fun?’ That was the main question and I still am.”

Corder is starting to settle in her role at Nebraska and has found comfort in the Midwest plains, far away from the mountains of West Virginia. The Barboursville, W.Va., native never saw herself at Nebraska, but when she made her official visit, it didn’t take long for her to change her mind because something felt right.

“It just felt like home. [After my visit], I had a very good feeling that I would end up here,” Corder said.

And Husker fans are sure glad she did.