Regardless of which sport she is playing, Lyons senior Anna Bigenwald is always in the middle of the action.
That’s just the way she likes it.
The 5-foot-8 Bigenwald played safety, wide receiver and punter for the flag football team and was the starting power forward for the basketball team.
But it is on the soccer field where Bigenwald makes the biggest impact. The Loyola-bound goalkeeper allowed only three goals in the first eight games, posting five shutouts.
One of those clean sheets came on April 15, when Bigenwald made two saves in a 0-0 tie with host Naperville North, which was the Class 3A state runner-up last season.
How much has Bigenwald done for the Lions?
“Really not that much,” Lyons coach Bill Lanspeary quipped. “No, obviously she comes up with big saves game after game and we know we can rely on her.
“But she’s also a great teammate and a positive teammate, so what she brings to the team is beyond what you see on the field.”
What can be seen on the field is impressive. Bigenwald is always alert, even in games when the Lions (4-1-3) give up few shots.
Such was the case against the Huskies (4-2-1), who had the best of the few scoring chances. With 25:00 left in the second half, Bigenwald lunged to her left to make a great diving save on a 22-yard free kick from Purdue commit Lily Radek.
“I was just trying to stay calm,” Bigenwald said. “I put some tall people up in the wall and then I was just kind of looking at the ball, and I saw it hit off of a player and I knew that I had to dive to my left.”
Bigenwald loves to dive right in to things.
“I’ve always liked playing a bunch of sports and I’ve always just been very competitive,” she said. “And having a brother growing up, it definitely helps with my competitive nature because we’d always have competitions and we both wanted to win.”
Bigenwald’s brother, R.J., is a 6-4 freshman who plays basketball and football. Competing with him has given Bigenwald a steely resolve.
“My strength is probably my poise,” Bigenwald said. “I feel like a lot of goalkeepers get really tense and kind of almost scared when challenges come.
“But even today when me and Claire (Mortonson) kind of collided and we both fell on the ground, I kind of stayed calm. That’s probably the best part of my game is being able to control my emotions and stay calm in the heat of the game.”
Senior midfielder Carolina Capizzi, who has committed to DePaul, said that has rubbed off on the Lions.
“She has really great poise,” Capizzi said. “She’s so comfortable on the ball with her feet and also she’s so agile.
“Someone will make a great hit and she just jumps and saves it and does a great job. I feel really comfortable having her in the back.”
Bigenwald makes all of her teammates comfortable.
“She does a really great job with the leadership portion,” Capizzi said. “Being a goalie, she can kind of see the whole field and tell us what we need to work on. She’s fun to be around.”