Making saves, leading her Western Washington University squad

Natalie Dierickx didn’t always play soccer between the goalposts.

While growing up, she was one of her team’s top scorers until the squad was short of a goalkeeper one season. She was taller than her junior high teammates and agreed to give the position a shot.

“I ended up being good at it and stuck with it,” said Dierickx, now 21, with a laugh over the phone as she traveled with her Western Washington University team on the bus from Bellingham toward a match against St. Martin’s University in Lacey on Sept. 27.