It generally takes a few years for athletes to establish themselves at the collegiate level. Sophomore goalie Joanna Haig has not only established herself as a threat on the ISU women’s soccer team, but has taken her skills on the national level.

Haig, who was a member of the under-20 national team pool over the summer, started 19 games in net for the Cyclones last season. Voted to the Big 12 all-newcomer team, she carried a 1.39 goals-against average, while logging eight victories on the season, the most for an ISU goalie since 1999.

“I’ll tell you what, you can’t find somebody that can just jump in as a freshman and earn the amount of respect that she did over her first year, than Joanna has,” said coach Rebecca Hornbacher. “She’s really special … She’s really humble, she’s not somebody who’s a showy type person.”

Haig, who was selected on the preseason all-Big 12 team, played over 1,500 minutes last season, and earned Big 12 defensive player of the week honors after notching 13 saves against Missouri.

“It’s a great honor to have, but it doesn’t mean anything until the end of the season, once you’ve proven yourself,” Haig said.

Having secured the goalie spot this season, she has placed herself into a leadership role where everybody, older and younger, looks to her for a certain type of leadership.

“Jo is an amazing player, as everybody already knows,” said senior forward Amy Flores. “She’s already stepping up and she’s one of the leaders on the team. She is going to be necessary for the success of this team.”

Senior forward Kristina Baumann echoed Flores’ statements.

“We need a goalkeeper to be a strong leader, and she steps up and she does it,” Baumann said. “She’s a very determined individual, and she helps the team tremendously back there.”

Haig said her time spent with the national team was something that she was very lucky to participate in.

“It was nice to see the top girls at the level that are my age,” she said. “You see that, and you implement that, and you’ve seen how they can play, so now you expect more out of yourself and your teammates.

“It’s really good, I mean, you demand more of everyone around you once you’ve been there.”

Senior midfielder Deb Benakis said Haig brings her own style of leadership to the team, compared to that of the more vocal leaders off the field.

“On the field, she’s solid support from the back,” Benakis said. “Everyone looks to more mostly on the field, and that’s where her leadership comes in.

“As she gets older, it will continue off the field as well, and I think she makes a great role model for all of the younger kids, and anyone coming in.”

She also said the team hopes to make the NCAA tournament this season, but in order to achieve that, it must finish, at bare minimum, with a .500 winning percentage. Iowa State finished last season 8-12.

“I think if we sat down and made a list of goals, the NCAA Tournament would definitely be on there,” Haig said. “I think we definitely have the personnel on the team to do that.”