MSU's best soccer goalkeeper didn't even want to play goalie after her first time in net.
"When I was 5, I got put in goal and I hated it," senior goalie Stacy Keller said. "I got scored on and I went to get the ball out of the back of the net and my bow got caught in the netting.
"I never wanted to play goal again."
But 16 years later - and without the bow in her hair - Keller is back in net and rewriting the Spartan soccer record books.
Keller set an MSU record for career shutouts last Friday by blanking Eastern Michigan 2-0. It was shutout number 17.5, breaking the record previously held by her predecessor, Sara Kloosterman.
Then, to distinguish herself a bit more, Keller and the No. 19 Spartans stonewalled Detroit on Sunday to make it 18.5 shutouts and counting. Through four games, Keller has made 16 saves and built a 0.52 goals against average.
"It's a great honor, but I couldn't have done it without my team," Keller said. "The fact that I play with (the women's soccer team) every day just makes me that much better."
Humility runs through her, but Keller has little reason to be modest. In MSU's four games this season, the Spartans have gone 3-1, each win a shutout. The only two goals MSU has allowed were in a 2-1 loss to No. 12 West Virginia last week.
And much like hockey netminders and relief pitchers, the soccer keeper is of a different breed. The pressure, responsibility and leadership of her position seem to motivate Keller that much more.
"It's just knowing that I'm the last one on the field, and if I make a mistake, we have to pay for it," she said. "It's a sense of urgency, definitely."
All told, her amateur career has been remarkable for someone who didn't start playing goalie until her sophomore year of high school in Madison, Wis. After her bow-snagging, net-tangling debut, Keller played forward until she began practicing as goalie for fun at practice.
"My teammates saw me playing in practice, just goofing around and said, 'Hey, why don't you try it out?'" Keller said. "I said, 'OK, why not?'"
Since then, the position that started as a whim has become her meal ticket to collegiate soccer. Women's head soccer coach Tom Saxton said that Keller is on par with MSU's long line of top-notch keepers.
"Without a doubt, one of the best - and we've had some good ones," Saxton said. "I expect her to make our young keepers better. The younger players are in a good position to learn from a very fine keeper and hopefully continue on her tradition when their time comes."
On field, Keller's career has quietly been among the best in the Big Ten. Already a two-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week in the young soccer season, Keller was All-Big Ten last season, placing second in the conference in saves (102), while cracking enough books to be named to the Academic All-Big Ten team.
As the sports adage has dictated, though, a keeper is only as good as the defense in front of them.
"When you get a shutout, it's a team effort," Saxton said. "But the emphasis is on the goalkeeper, and then I think the next emphasis goes on the defense."
Keller has good reason to credit her teammates before she acknowledges herself for her career shutout record. Spartan opponents are averaging 14.2 shots per game, all goals against coming in the loss to West Virginia.
It's a long way from Madison, but Keller's mother, Mary Beth Keller, said she isn't surprised to see her daughter's name inked into Spartan history.
"She has always been extremely competitive and determined," Mary Beth Keller said. "She's always set goals, and obtained them so far."
Old goaltending habits die quick for Stacy Keller, though.
"She'll never wear that bow again," Mary Beth said.
