Mendham Minutemen’s Sonja Zeepvat nominated for Goalie of the Year
MENDHAM, N.J. — Mendham Minutemen’s Sonja Zeepvat has been nominated for Goalie of the Year, per NJ.com. She began playing soccer at a young age, ironically for an opposing rival town. She played on the West Morris club team in fifth grade and stayed with them until she aged out in eighth grade. She then played for her middle school team and won the championship her eighth grade year. Winning seems to be in Zeepvat’s resume since a young age and she’s played at a competitive level throughout her entire soccer career.
Zeepvat started out on her club and middle school teams playing the majority in the field instead of the goalie position. As matter of fact, throughout her middle school years, she never played goalie. She began playing goalie in high school and was often altered between fielder and goalie for the freshman, junior varsity and varsity teams.
“Sonja was a part-time goalkeeper and field player as a freshman the previous year, and I told her that she was going to be the starting varsity goalkeeper after her performance during pre-season,” said head coach of Mendham’s girls soccer Sean Goldsworthy.
She said she often despised playing goalie, especially at a younger age. Zeepvat didn’t embrace the pressure it takes and wasn’t prioritizing the position earlier on in her high school career. She later began to truly believe in herself with the support of the late great Ed Grasso, her phenomenal goalie coach Nick Mele and her head coach Goldsworthy.
Mele has been on the Drew women’s soccer sidelines since 2010, after being the head goalkeeper coach for Montclair State University’s men’s soccer team. He is a New Jersey native and was a four-year starter at Montclair State University as well.
Grasso, who passed away at age 67 in early April of this year, played a pivotal role in Zeepvat’s athletic journey. She emphasized how much he meant to her and how impactful his feedback and advice were to her. She carries this with her in every game she plays, and she feels connected to the goalie position because Grasso was the first to suggest to her that she should prioritize this position and take this opportunity seriously.
These two gentlemen meant the world because they not only helped build her confidence, but they played pivotal roles in her development in becoming a star player for the Minutemen.
Zeepvat managed to elevate her gameplay significantly from previous years. As a sophomore, she recorded 75 saves in just 12 games. She then followed that up with her junior year recording 105 saves in the same amount games, per NJ.com.
The dramatic increase opened up plenty of doors and opportunities for her this season. She was nominated for Goalie of the Year by her peers and opposing coaches. She also was asked to work out by some of her dream colleges.
“This year has been outstanding for me, I cannot take all the credit,” she said. “My outstanding goalie coach has improved my footwork. I am just really glad my hard work in the offseason is finally paying off. I was even invited to IP workouts at Villanova, Penn State and Rutgers.”
Some of Zeepvat’s saves this year came in the biggest and most meaningful moments during the season. When asked about her most meaningful game of the season, she emphasized enthusiastically the Montclair game. She believes that this set the tone for the remainder of the year and her performance in this game truly displayed her talent and capabilities.
“The one that stands out to me was our third game of the season against No. 2 ranked Montclair,” Zeepvat said. “This was one of the biggest wins in program history and the girls rallied around it. You could see the team grow together.”
“With some games still left on the schedule and the state tournament coming up, I am confident in this group that our biggest wins are still in front of us,” emphasized Coach Goldsworthy.
Zeepvat’s nomination was very impactful on the Minutemen girls soccer team, not to mention Zeepvat herself. This nomination confirmed all the hard work and dedication she was putting into her craft was finally paying off. She said she felt relieved and inspired by her own work ethic, which naturally helped inspire others. The award nomination made the other girls who look up to her as a leader truly believe they can achieve what she has achieved and even greater.
The joy this brought to her family and her coaches was eye opening to her. She believed the hardest thing at the time was attempting to stay humble as interest from colleges continued to come on top of the recognition she believed internally for so long that she deserved. Zeepvat was honored to even be considered with the list of names that was presented.
“The honor of being nominated brings a joy that is indescribable,” Zeepvat said after finding out she was nominated for the Goalie of the Year award. “The hardest task of all this was attempting to stay humble through all the praise and trying to not get emotional.”
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