Shaking hands with Ann Gleason and Ashley Costanzo is intimidating.

Neither of the ISU soccer goalkeepers are especially frightening nor imposing; they both tie their hair back before games, both stand fit at 5 feet 8 inches and both wear canary yellow jerseys while their team is clad in cardinal. None of these things make them scary. Rather, the realization that both of them are humble, intelligent, polite and can dive farther and kick harder than most human beings, inspires unease. The issue escalates when their hands, which are worked in practice as mitts, crush the hand of the person they are greeting.

The junior Gleason and sophomore Costanzo are the only two goalies on the roster for the Cyclones this year. Gleason is a top recruit from Stillwater, Minn., and Costanzo is a state champion from West Des Moines Valley. Gleason is the all-time saves, shutouts and in-goal minutes leader in ISU soccer history. At most schools, that would make her eligible for special awards and recognition. Although first-year coach Wendy Dillinger acknowledges Gleason as the leader of the defense, her backup has been more than willing to step up late in the season.

“I didn’t even know about all the records until I read them in the paper,” Gleason said. “I think they’re cool, but it wasn’t anything that I set out to do, I just want to win.”

Recently, Gleason has been playing the first half of games while Costanzo plays the second half, after backing up Gleason for most of the season. Gleason’s strong starts are always something to which the team was accustomed, but putting in a younger and untested semi-local goalie during the conference schedule was a risky move for Dillinger.

“I didn’t know what to expect early in the year and whether I’d get on the field,” Costanzo said. “I’d trained with her for two years now, so I knew Ann was great, I just wanted to push both of us to be better players.”

Pushing Iowa State’s record-setting goalie in practice has worked. Gleason looks supremely confident in front of the net, and Costanzo has been earning playing time.

“Ashley has been doing a great job and earning her way onto the field. Both goalies are very different, and bring their own strengths,’ Dillinger said.

When athletes are forced to share time at a position it can frequently create problems and resentment. Gleason and Costanzo have obviously not run into that situation. Even though the cooperation hasn’t translated into Cyclone victories in conference play yet this season, a shutout Sunday after 37 shots by Colorado would argue that both goalies are working for the best interest of the club.

“Ann and Ashley [have] played amazing, and we’re lucky to have them back there in goal,” junior defender Lauren Fader said.

Being a goalkeeper in soccer is like being a pitcher in baseball, a libero in volleyball and a safety or cornerback in football. The last line of defense and rear-positioned leader of the team, goalies stay isolated, wear different colored jerseys and take a large share of the criticism when things go south.

“I feel like the team is confident in front of me,” Costanzo said, “And when my coaches are confident in me, the team backs me 100 percent.”

Gleason has been starting games since her freshman season, and sharing time with Costanzo is a recent occurrence. Still, she keeps a positive attitude and stressed the importance of team play as the team looks to have success in the future.

“We’ve been the only two goalkeepers the last two years, and we do a lot of training individually, and we have a great working relationship,” Gleason said. “We’re both here to help each other improve and be very supportive, so I’ll do whatever is best for the team and makes us the most successful.”

Having lots of individual time apart from the team in practice means that Gleason and Costanzo were forced to interact from the start, but Gleason’s leadership was never questioned, and the two worked hard with assistant coach Ben Madsen.

“Ann and I are great friends, which was something I didn’t have in high school [with other goalies],” Costanzo said. “We hang out a lot but get down to business at practices.”

Gleason reciprocates the appreciation, describing her best experiences as “being with the team and coming to practice, working hard, and letting off steam from classes and homework.”

With a young squad — four seniors out of 23 — and two strong goalkeepers, the Cyclones look to gain some momentum and improve going into next year.

“We’re not OK with losing, and we definitely want to finish in the top half of the conference for next year,” Gleason said.

The future will dictate whether the two goalies bring success to Iowa State in the next year or so, but with a positive relationship, great skills and a winning attitude, the chemistry is there.