by Rich Mies, CSN Mapping the MIAC Columnist

For a goalkeeper to be successful, she must be unyielding in preventing the opposition from scoring. Maggie DeGroot is as stingy on the pitch as a goalkeeper can be and has rewritten the record book at Augsburg College. Her play has been a key factor in the program’s success and the attributes that allow her to do well on the field will enable her to be a winner in her post-graduate life as well.

Maggie holds the school career records for goals-against average (0.67), shutouts (34) and win percentage (63.3%), as well as the single-season mark for shutouts with 10. On Oct. 19, 2008, she notched her 36th career victory, making her the winningest goalie in school history. She is also threatening the single-season wins and goals-against records. Her net minding is a major factor in the team’s success this season. The Auggies have been ranked as high as ninth in the NCAA Division III Central Region and are in the midst of an exciting chase for what could be the school’s first MIAC championship in women’s soccer.

Although he is quick to acknowledge Maggie’s on-field accomplishments, her coach is more impressed with the intangibles she brings to the team. “Maggie is obviously an exceptional goalkeeper,” stated Coach Mike Navarre. “However, I am more impressed by her character, leadership ability, and work ethic. Maggie’s fortitude is unlike any athlete I’ve ever coached; she’s just always solid physically and mentally.”

While goalkeeping requires her to be unbending, off the pitch she is a willing giver of her time and energy to the community around her. She volunteers as a tutor through one of the local churches as part of a program run by Augsburg. Maggie assists in coaching the Columbia Heights High School soccer team as much as her schedule allows. She also volunteers with the Minneapolis United Soccer camps.

She has been part of the annual soccer clinic the Auggie team conducts at a nearby community center. “Each of my four years, we’ve planned and put on a soccer clinic at the Riverside Community Center,” she explained. “We hold it during our fall break.”

Augsburg requires its students to have a community service component in their curriculum to graduate. That requirement played a big part in Maggie’s decision to enroll at Augsburg. “When I looked at Augsburg, I liked the fact that it was a Liberal Arts school,” she said. “I really liked Augsburg’s commitment to service.”

Maggie grew up in Waukesha, WI, a western suburb of Milwaukee. She has one sister, Allison. “She is a junior at Marquette,” Maggie said. “She was a goalkeeper in high school, too, and played one season at Marquette before she had to stop playing because of concussions. She now coaches a club team while going to school. I also have a half-brother, Doug, and a half-sister, Kristin, from my dad’s first marriage.”

Maggie attended Waukesha West, where she played basketball in the winters as well as soccer in the spring. She was on the basketball JV her freshman and sophomore years before playing forward on the varsity for her junior year. “As time went on, I found myself not enjoying playing basketball as much as I had before,” she said. “I also knew I was going to play soccer in college and not play basketball, so my senior year I decided not to play basketball and focus on getting ready for the soccer season.”

As a freshman, Maggie shared playing time in net with a senior, yet still earned all-conference honorable mention. She started exclusively as a sophomore, and shared time with her sister the following two seasons. Maggie was named to the all-conference team as a junior and was honorable mention her sophomore and senior years.

“I stepped back a bit my senior year to let Allison get experience and exposure as she was hoping to go on to play in Division I,” said Maggie. “By then, I had made up my mind that I would be going to Augsburg and playing in Division III. It worked out well, as Allison had a bad concussion early in her senior year and missed the rest of the season. She went to Marquette and tried to play her freshman year, but another concussion ended her playing career. So I am happy that I was able to give her playing time in my senior year, as it turned out to be her last season.”

The Wolverines won their conference in Maggie’s senior year, and advanced to Sectional. There, they lost 2-0 to the eventual state champion. “We gave them one of their toughest games,” said Maggie. “They beat everyone else pretty bad that year.” In her first three seasons, West was eliminated in Regional play.

Away from sports, Maggie sang in the choir for four years. She was a member of the National Honor Society. Maggie was active in Young Liberals her junior and senior years. “We had speakers come in and we had discussions,” she said. “My senior year was an election year and we did volunteer work for some of the candidates running for office.”

She was active in her church, participating in Bible studies and youth group throughout her high school years.

As a sophomore, Maggie was involved in Ultra Peace, a group that works to promote peace and understanding in Northern Ireland. “The group brought Catholic and Protestant youth to Wisconsin in an effort to get dialogue going between them,” Maggie explained. “The hope was that they could do this in a neutral setting. We had a girl from Northern Ireland stay with us for a month as part of this program.”

The DeGroot household had an international flavor, as Maggie’s parents took in foster kids from Burma while she was in eighth and ninth grade. The family also hosted an exchange student from France during Maggie’s senior year of high school. “While I never studied overseas, I’ve had plenty of exposure to foreign cultures,” she said with a laugh.

While in high school, Maggie was recruited by Division II schools South Dakota and UW-Parkside, as well as many of the Division III schools in the area. “I also got into a recruiting program that sent out students’ profiles to college coaches,” she said. “They sent my information to Coach Navarre, who contacted me, starting communication between us. He came to one of our games my junior year and we talked more then. I was interested in living in the Twin Cities, and the more I looked into Augsburg, the more I liked what it had to offer. I made up my mind early in my senior year.”

At Augsburg, Maggie has appeared in 68 of the team’s 69 games thus far in her career. As a freshman, she earned All-MIAC Honorable Mention as she helped the Auggies to a 5-2-4 conference record and a fourth place finish. They qualified for the MIAC Playoffs but lost to Macalester in the semifinals to close the year 8-3-7. Maggie was third in the conference in goals against average (0.49) and save percent (92.0%). She ranked in the top 10 in saves and shutouts.

The following year, Maggie again was named All-MIAC Honorable Mention as she posted the fourth best goals against average in the league (0.62) as well as finishing in the top five in saves, save percent and shut outs. Augsburg was 7-3-1 in league action, taking fourth place. In the semifinals of the MIAC Playoffs, they lost 1-0 to Concordia, ending the season 10-6-2.

Last year, Maggie led the Auggies to a tie for third place, their best showing ever in MIAC play. They were knocked out of the MIAC Playoffs by St. Benedict’s, 2-0, finishing the season 9-7-3. Maggie was named All-MIAC First Team. She shared the league lead in shut outs with seven. She finished second in goals against average (0.53) and in saves percent (91.2%).

This year, the Auggies are 8-2-4 overall and are 4-0-4 in MIAC games. They are tied for second in the conference with 12 points. Maggie is a leading candidate for league MVP and ranks in the top five in all goalkeeping statistics.

Maggie is in her second year as a member of the Augsburg Student Athletic Advisory Committee, and serves as the group’s secretary. SAAC works to promote support of Augsburg athletics and encourages student attendance at home games and events. The group also conducts a Toys For Teens drive at the holidays and looks out for the well-being of the student-athletes.

In the summer of 2008, Maggie was chosen to attend the annual NCAA Leadership Conference, which was held in Orlando, FL.

Maggie is a Health/Fitness major with a 3.44 GPA and will graduate in May. “I probably will work for a while after I graduate, maybe as a personal trainer, and get some experience,” she said. “I’ll most likely stay in the Twin Cities. After a few years, I’d like to go to graduate school for Exercise Science or Nutrition.”

For Maggie, Augsburg has been all she imagined it could be. “At Augsburg, you are very free to be yourself,” she said. “I’ve always felt welcome for being me. I love Minneapolis and being in the city, and I enjoy being involved in the community. I’ve gotten a great education, which has challenged me, too. I will come out a much more critical thinker. The Liberal Arts education here has helped make me who I am. My major is for my career, but the Liberal Arts education is for who I am.”

“I think that has to do with the people here,” she said. “We have 23 girls on the team. We all care about each other and work hard together.”

Coach Navarre is grateful for the opportunity to have a player like Maggie in maroon and white these four years. “I’m sure Maggie feels a debt of gratitude toward her teammates and coaches for helping her achieve her success,” he stated. “However, the debt is ours; we are all better people as a result of being with Maggie.”

[The photos are used courtesy of the Augsburg College Sports Information Office.]

The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) is widely respected as one of the premier conferences in nearly every sport competed in Division III. Year after year, the MIAC produces teams and individual student-athletes who excel in their given sport. At the same time, the MIAC schools maintain a reputation of commitment to academic excellence. This article is one in a series of spotlights on some of the young men and women who represent the league’s commitment to excellence, both in the classroom and athletics during the 2008-09 academic year.

This feature will be included in the “Profiles of Excellence 2008-2009″ book which will be available for order at RDM Publishing. It will feature profiles of student-athletes from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, written by CSN’s “Mapping the MIAC” columnist Rich Mies.