LSU junior goalkeeper Catalina Rubiano restlessly waited as team trainers stitched together her bottom lip during the first half of the Tigers’ match against Alabama on Oct. 9. 
In the 30th minute of action, Rubiano dove in front of a loose ball as Crimson Tide senior forward Laura Lee Smith charged freely into the right side of the box with a clear shot on goal. 
Smith’s right shin guard clipped Rubiano’s mouth as she corralled the ball in her hands, drawing a yellow card and giving the Tigers’ goalkeeper a gashed lip, requiring stitches to seal. 
But the pain from her cut and bloodied lip wasn’t what circled through Rubiano’s mind. All she could think about was how she’d been temporarily knocked out of her first career start. 
“I got upset because they told me they’d have to stitch it up, which meant I had to get taken out, so I was just really mad at that moment,” Rubiano said. 
Rubiano’s frustration is understandable. Her first career start highlighted a three-year journey in which the New Orleans native went from doubting her love for the sport she had played all her life to starting at the most important position on the field for a major college soccer program. 
Rubiano said her first opportunity on the LSU pitch was a long time coming. 
“I was so thrilled to start because I felt like I had been working really hard for it,” Rubiano said. “I know as a keeper, it’s a tough position, but the best thing I could do was keep training and be ready in case the time ever came for me to get in. It was really hard to always stay sharp, but I really wanted it.” 
However, Rubiano took a little longer than usual to realize how much she truly wanted to continue playing soccer after high school. 
Rubiano initially wanted to walk on at LSU after she graduated from St. Mary’s Dominican in New Orleans in 2011. But a lingering meniscus injury combined with the constant grind of collegiate athletics clouded Rubiano’s young mind, and she chose to be just a student rather than a student-athlete. 
“I played soccer all my life and loved it, but I had been focusing on other things in high school,” Rubiano said. “I really didn’t take my soccer career serious enough, but that was my own personal journey I had to take.” 
Rubiano’s decision to give up her soccer career didn’t stem from a lack of talent. The 5-foot-9 goalkeeper led Dominican to a 2-1 victory in the state title game as a senior in 2011, and Rubiano earned First-Team All-State honors after allowing only 13 goals in 26 matches. 
Her decision to decline a potential collegiate soccer career sent a shock wave to her former high school coach, Al Silvas. 
“I was definitely surprised that she wasn’t going to continue playing in college because we had some colleges that were interested in her as a senior, but she just wanted to take another journey,” Silvas said. 
But Rubiano soon realized she couldn’t cut off her love for the game as easily as she could walk away from it, so she hoped a change of scenery could help remedy her anxiety. 
Rubiano stayed at LSU for one year before she entered an exchange program and transferred to the University of Hawaii, where she studied for another semester before journeying back to her home state. 
Rubiano attended the University of New Orleans for one semester in spring 2013. That is when she finally gave in to her passion for soccer and prepared for a comeback to the field. 
But after being idle for nearly two years, Rubiano sought the assistance of her former coaches to work herself into game shape. Though goalkeepers are generally confined to an 18-yard box, Rubiano said improving her fitness was the first step she needed to take if she hoped to make a Division-1 soccer roster. 
“At this level, the amount of diving and getting back up takes a lot more work than you would think,” Rubiano said. “But just being able to push yourself through that conditioning will build your mental toughness for games. You’re sitting there for 90 minutes, and you have to always be ready and stay focused to guide your team.” 
A determined Rubiano pushed through the grueling training sessions, and Silvas said he noticed a significant change in his former goalkeeper’s demeanor. 
“I wouldn’t say she was more focused, but she had that extra drive that pushed her,” Silvas said. “Whenever she came back to town, she was still a hard worker. But the difference was she finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel right in front of her, and she worked harder to reach it.” 
Rubiano joined the LSU soccer program in fall 2013 but had to sit behind four-year starter Megan Kinneman, who set a school record with 284 career saves despite her slight 5-foot-4-inch frame. Rubiano said watching Kinneman taught her how to maximize her natural talent. 
“[Kinneman] was so interesting because obviously everyone said she was short for a goalkeeper, but she didn’t let that stop her,” Rubiano said. “She made up for it in every other way, and she showed me how to be technically sound.”
Rubiano seemed poised to take over the goalkeeping duties after a strong spring following Kinneman’s departure
this offseason. 
However, the emergence of LSU freshman goalkeeper Lily Alfeld, who’s also a member of the New Zealand national team, seemingly ended any hope of Rubiano seeing action on the field. But the even-keeled Rubiano didn’t let the lack of playing time stifle her determination to get on the field — she used it to push her even further. 
“When they made [Alfeld] the starter, that was the moment when I had to decide whether I would mope about it or move on and keep training,” Rubiano said. “So I decided to keep training and not think about it. I think it did me good because I feel like I’m very well prepared now.”  
First-year LSU goalkeepers coach Carl Goody immediately noticed Rubiano’s intensified focus and said her steady composure between the net is what sets her apart from others manning the position. 
“You’d never know if she’s pulled off an amazing save or if she just let in a goal,” Goody said. “She’s very even-keeled. She doesn’t get angry at herself even if she’s made a mistake, which is a very good trait to have as a goalkeeper. It’s pure excitement for her when she plays.”  
Rubiano managed to control the butterflies swirling in her stomach during her first start against Alabama, recording three saves and confidently directing the Tigers’ back line the entire night. 
LSU soccer coach Brian Lee wasn’t surprised by Rubiano’s cool handling of her first start. 
“Catalina’s raw, but she’s got a great temperament about her,” Lee said. “She doesn’t get rattled. She’s calm and composed, and she’s a good shot stopper.” 
But Rubiano’s first career start didn’t result in team success, and neither have the subsequent starts as the Tigers have limped to an 0-3 mark with the New Orleans native in goal. 
Despite the team’s struggles, Rubiano said she’s thrilled to finally live out her dream on the soccer field. She’s experienced the hardship of walking away from something she loved, and her long journey back to soccer has helped her treasure every opportunity that comes her way. 
“I was away from the game for two years, and I thought it was gone,” Rubiano said. “I thought my opportunity was over. So just being here, I have to remind myself every day to be grateful for that, and I really am. I’m so happy to be able to come out here everyday and play this sport that I love.”
You can reach David Gray on
Twitter @dgray_TDR.