I’ve been watching a lot of college soccer as the season winds down, and I’ve noticed that there seem to be a decent number of goalkeepers, many of them current juniors, with unusual transfer patterns. Southern Cal to Villanova really stood out to me, especially for a west coast player who was starting at USC. Also Duke to Oklahoma. I know some of it might be that we’re seeing the last year of extra COVID eligibility among grad students and playing time concerns. Any other thoughts? Is this going to be an ongoing pattern or just a blip? An ongoing transfer portal merry-go-round pattern would make GK recruiting even more insane than it is, especially at a position where teams usually have one starter and that’s it.
NCAA women GKs and transfer portal
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Mystery Train
GOLD
Definitely not a blip. This is the way it will be going forward unless transfer rules change again. It's wide open free-agency.
From my DD's experience and her close GK friends and rivals I can say that we will see more of this as it continues to be considered "normal."
For sure there are a ton of grad student type transfers or academically driven transfers. My DD had a club teammate who played majority starter minutes at a top 25 team in her Junior year, reduced minutes (but still significant) in her Senior year, but then used her 5th year eligibility to do grad school back home at a slightly weaker soccer program but a place that really had the Master's option she wanted. She's getting all the minutes now and loving playing in a less pressure filled environment. That's pretty common as upperclassmen start to focus on life after soccer. They may have chosen a particular school at the outset for the high level soccer program, but as they enter the end of their soccer careers, they would rather just play and finish at a school that fits their career goals.
The other even more significant factor is simply players who are unhappy where they are. It's an easy but often false assumption to make that if players are getting minutes they are "happy," and only players who aren't getting minutes will want to transfer. I know of several GK's who transferred despite being the starter in the prior year because they were unhappy or found a better situation.
I've realized what a total crapshoot recruiting is for both the player and the coach. It's insane, actually. The limits on contact mean that you really and truly don't know if the player/coach fit is going to work until you get there. And it cuts both ways. This is even more so for GK's because of the uniqueness of the position. Most head coaches have no clue how to manage keepers but you won't know that until you play for them. Same is true often of the school environment. A couple of campus visits do not give you a real picture of day to day life of a soccer player.
Also, don't assume because a school is prestigious or has a great soccer ranking that the culture or life as a player in those environments is good there. A lot of kids choose programs based on presitge only to discover that the environment or coach is toxic/abusive and sucks the joy out of the game. Not saying that's the case for the players you mentioned, but I know of very similar cases that were exactly that.
dk_b
GOLD
I parent a GK who transferred and is finishing her 2d year (her Covid bonus year so 5th year) at the school from where she will earn her degree. There are various reasons why my kid transferred and I won't go into them here (I will say playing time was not one of them as she was a 3-year starter before she left and NIL $ was not one of them either). But I will say that GKs moving are for reasons that @Mystery Train describes really well above. (I will note that playing time can sometimes be an issue and may take that keeper by surprise - if, for example, a GK has been a backup and expects to start but the program recruits a clear #1 incoming frosh or through the portal.)
In this era of increased transfer activity, I generally side with the player - they usually have really sound, personal, reasons. They committed to their first school for reasons and most (nearly all, I'd assume) expected to stay for four years. Many who transferred to "better" programs STILL do so with heavy heart and even when it may have been an obvious "right decision", it often remains a difficult one on deeply personal levels.
In this era of increased transfer activity, I generally side with the player - they usually have really sound, personal, reasons. They committed to their first school for reasons and most (nearly all, I'd assume) expected to stay for four years. Many who transferred to "better" programs STILL do so with heavy heart and even when it may have been an obvious "right decision", it often remains a difficult one on deeply personal levels.