(ABC 6 News) — Two years ago, being a goalkeeper was not on Alyssa Knudson’s mind.

“At first when I started, I did not like it,” the senior admitted. “But after playing defense and learning about the goalie position I liked it.”

Halfway through last year, Knudson was made Triton’s starting goalie, a catalytic choice that has shown results.

“We’d show up and it was a matter of how badly were we going to lose?” head coach Jeremy Himli revealed. “You know, we were probably going to score zero and now… Winning or tying or we’re losing by one… Being somebody that other teams have to look out for now.”

In this still-young season, Knudson has turned in two huge performances, amassing a combined 29 saves against Cannon Falls and rivals Tri-City United. Against the latter, Knudson made 16 saves alone.

“And it’s your rival, it’s on the road, we were missing two starters,” Himli recounted. “Clock kept on going and she’s making all these saves and I’m like, ‘Number one, I think we’re going to win…’ So it was a pretty big deal.”

“I feel like I just have a good connection with the defense and having them by my side helps a lot,” Knudson mused.

Her position is a high-pressure one, but instead of shirking away, Knudson is diving head-on into the fray.

“She just — she’s so quick, she’s got real good coordination,” teammate Olivia Weber added. “People in the crowd probably don’t recognize as much but she’s really coordinated.”

“You got to just not think about it,” Knudson said of her reaction time. “You just got to go for it and that’s what I’ve been working on this year.”

Her abilities have her team believing as Knudson enters her final season. Knudson’s not taking any match for granted, savoring every save and getting better by the day.

“Last year, I had a three-point average for letting goals in and I’m trying to knock that down to two,” Knudson said. “I feel like I just want to have a good time with our team and just get better overall as a person and a teammate.”