Marnie Merritt has been preparing her whole life to be a part of something special.
Her love of soccer came at an early age; Merritt found her home in the net around the age of 12. Quickly realizing her field skills weren’t quite up to par with the other 12-year-olds, her coaches put her in the goal, and it stuck.
For Merritt, an all-state and All-American player on her North Carolina high school’s state champion team, the move certainly worked.
Now as the starting goalkeeper for an undefeated Ole Miss team, Merritt has only allowed one goal in the Rebels’ nine games this year (in a 1-1 2OT draw against top-25 ranked Michigan).