Some athletes like to hype themselves up before games. Hope Hisey prefers to dial it down.
As her teammates sing and shout, the Arizona goalkeeper coops up in front of her locker (before home games) or finds a quiet spot on the bus (before road games) where she can work on a crossword puzzle and let her mind wander into the world of random trivia.
“They just calm me down,” she said. “There’s definitely a lot of excitement and adrenaline, and if I put my focus somewhere else I feel like I’m able to get in the zone better.