A hiatus from soccer hasn’t slowed Anna Collins down in her first year at St. Mary’s.

The Pirates’ freshman goalkeeper played the sport in the second grade but gave it up after only one season. Collins made the decision to try it again in her first year of high school, and she hasn’t missed a beat.

Collins has logged 110 saves in nine games, which is tied for 17th in Colorado among all classes. Most recently, she helped the Pirates earn wins against Vanguard and Thomas MacLaren.

Collins is the Peak Performer of the Week.

“You see a ball flying at you, your first instinct is to grab it with your hands,” Collins said. “It has been fun to learn the reactive skills.”

Several of Collins’ friends planned to play soccer, which persuaded her to join the team. With the help of those friends and her coaches, she quickly got into a rhythm and relearned the skills taught to her several years prior.

“They’ve turned me into the soccer player that I am,” Collins said. “I really like running, so that’s always a lot of fun.”

St. Mary’s coach Anna Ballweber said, “I think a lot of it is just her work ethic. She came out with that mentality, and we kind of threw her in goal. She took it running, full speed.”

At 4-4-1, St. Mary’s has already matched its win total from 2023. But the Pirates’ improvement hasn’t come without speed bumps.

The Pirates have lost 10-0 twice, most recently being mercy-ruled against Colorado Springs Christian last Tuesday. But after both of those games, St. Mary’s responded with quality wins.

And Collins is a big reason why.

“We’re not going to always win,” Collins said. “As long as everyone’s working well as a team, we’re going to do well, no matter what the score is.”

After several years away from the sport, Collins is hooked on soccer. With three more years upcoming, she said she hopes to see her goals against average continue to drop.

But more than that, she wants to inspire a winning culture within the program.

“I just want to work hard and be a really good team member,” Collins said.

Collins is one of 11 freshmen on the Pirates’ roster. Despite their youth, the Pirates have shown promise this season.

Between almost a dozen newcomers and a budding star in goal, the St. Mary’s coaches see a winning trajectory ahead.

“The excitement is endless,” Ballweber said. “We talk about it every day, the fact that we’re going to have her for four years, and we’re building the program. (There are) no words for the excitement we have.”

Goalkeeper coach Kevin Kohlmann said, “I couldn’t ask for anything more from her. To have that type of mentality and physicality in the net for four years is going to be amazing.”