Stoughton’s Varnum Standing Tall as Starting Keeper at Ithaca

In the 76th minute of the second match of the 2025 season, with Ithaca leading by just a goal (despite dominating play from the opening whistle), Heidelberg got a breakaway opportunity. Sophomore keeper Katrina Varnumraced off her line and made a diving save to deny the unlikely equalizer, preserve a win, and set the tone for a season that saw Ithaca’s new No. 1 stand above the rest to win the Liberty League’s Defensive Player of the Year award.

“My first big save of the season definitely helped me confidence-wise and set the trajectory for the rest of my season,” Varnum said, reflecting on her first season as the starting keeper. “I think the first few games last year weren’t against the toughest opponents, so I didn’t get too much action but it was good to just be able to be out there and communicating.”

The victory-saving stop against Heidelberg would be the only shot on target that Ithaca allowed in the opening two matches last season, giving Varnum a chance to get settled and build confidence. The former Stoughton High standout took it from there.

Varnum led the Liberty League with a 0.452 goals against average, 0.895 save percentage, and nine clean sheets. She was fourth in saves with 68 and saves per match with 3.78, while finishing in the top 30 in Div. III in save percentage (ninth), goals against average (16th), and shutouts (tied for 26th). It culminated in her being named first-team all-conference and third-team all-region, while bringing home the program’s first Defensive Player of the Year honor.

“It means a lot for sure,” Varnum said about the individual honors. “It’s really cool to see when your hard work pays off like that.”

“From the beginning of the season last year, I definitely had to get my footing a little bit and my teammates helped a lot with that and building my confidence. It feels great to win something like that but it’s super helpful when I have all my teammates and my coaches supporting me.”

Varnum won the starting job during the spring semester of her freshman year and she credits a season of learning behind former All-Liberty League keeper Grace Hickey for preparing her for the No. 1 role. While knowing that she was going to be the starter took some of the pressure off in preseason, getting onto the pitch for the first time was still a different experience.

“It was super exciting but it definitely came with a lot of nerves as well,” Varnum said. “I definitely felt ready but going into college, it’s a different environment and it’s a lot more competitive. I had an adjustment period but it was super exciting to come in and start.”

With four goalkeepers on the roster this season, Varnum knows that she has to be on her game to continue in the starting role and she credits her fellow goalies for pushing her to be at her best for every match.

“All four are fantastic goalkeepers but they’re even better people,” Varnum explained. “We have the best time in training, but we’re always pushing each other to the max. Goalkeepers are really the only ones who get it when it comes to the stress that position can bring.”

Varnum admits that she feels more comfortable in her second year as the starter and she is working on being more of a vocal presence after graduating three starting defenders (including former Canton standout Allie McCabe) from last year’s team.

“Coming in I was definitely a quieter keeper and over the past two years I’ve worked on knowing when to communicate, how to communicate, the best things to say to keep it short but effective,” she said. “I knew I had to come in with more leadership and build that part of my game up a little bit.

A keeper’s job isn’t limited to making saves and, with sure hands and her 6-foot-1 frame, Varnum considers her biggest strength the ability to come out and claim a cross or a set piece. Her imposing presence can also force the opposition to think more in front of goal, allowing her to pounce on any hesitation. “I’m able to make myself as big as I can and it’s kind of hard when you have a 6-foot-1 goalkeeper running at you while you’re trying to score,” she said with a laugh.

Ithaca has started this season well, going 5-2-3 through the opening 10 games and picking up its first Liberty League victory last time out with a 1-0 win over Skidmore. The first conference match of the season was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Vassar won in overtime. Varnum admitted there was extra motivation to get a positive result, particularly for the defense.

“We were like, we’re not letting them score,” she said. Vassar scored very late to win in the regular season meeting a year ago, then scored in the first minute of OT in the conference tournament. With this year’s game scoreless in the closing minutes, Ithaca made sure to keep things locked down at the back. “With three new starters, there’s an adjustment period and that game was the first one that we put it all together.”

Following a tough loss to William Smith (the only team to score more than once in a game against Ithaca this season), the Bombers responded with a solid win over Skidmore. “Probably our best half of the season so far,” Varnum said.

With six matches left in the regular season, Ithaca is building confidence and momentum to make it six straight years of reaching at least the semifinals in the conference tournament. Of course, the Bombers have loftier ambitions and Varnum wants to send off this year’s seniors with a trophy and another trip to the NCAA Tournament (Ithaca reached the second round in 2024).

“That would be amazing,” she said. “Being able to do that with this group of people and being able to give the seniors one last huge win would be the best gift we could give them.”

“With how hard we’ve been working this year, it would be super, super satisfying. We’ve got a lot to do from here to reach our potential, but we’re off to a pretty good start.”