By Michael Grant, Louisville Courier-Journal
As a construction management major, Libby Stout studies all facets of commercial and residential building projects. As a Manual High School soccer star and now Western Kentucky University goalkeeper, she has also constructed quite a sports career for herself as well.
Stout became WKU's winningest goalie this month with 38 victories. She already owned the record for shutouts (31). Jason Neidell, the coach since the program's inception in 2001, has called her the best goalkeeper the school has ever had.
The one thing left to do to complete her stay at WKU is to lead the Hilltoppers to their first NCAA Tournament appearance. The team came close in Stout's freshman year, losing in the 2008 Sun Belt Conference Tournament final.
"That's the goal," Stout said. "I'm lucky to be one of the best goalkeepers they've had here. But really I just want the team to succeed and our program to succeed, to get to a point where we've never been before. To get to that point would bring everything full circle for me."
WKU has started this season slowly, with its record now 5-5, 0-2. On Sunday, it lost at Denver 2-0. Its next game is at home Friday against Arkansas-Little Rock.
Stout, whose mother, Nancy, played basketball at Seneca and father, Jim, played football for Shelby County, started as a forward. She moved to goalie at age 11 and went on to have a standout career at Manual, posting a 0.70 goals-against average or less her final three seasons.
Stout chose WKU's fledging program over Eastern Kentucky in part because her brother was a student in Bowling Green.
Neidell knew he had a promising talent and immediately turned to Stout when goalie Lily Meisner transferred over the summer.
As the only option, Stout was thrown into the mix. She had record-breaking results with a Sun Belt-record 14 shutouts. Stout finished fourth in Division I in GAA (0.426) and had the second-highest save percentage (0.924).
Her consecutive shutouts in the conference tournament propelled the Hilltoppers to their first Sun Belt title game.
"She played with a real sense of composure and maturity," Neidell said. "She exceeded our expectations. We knew she was going to be a big-time goalkeeper for us. We just didn't know how quickly that would happen."
Stout helped the team go 15-2-4 with 1-0 victories in the Sun Belt quarterfinals and semifinals. She also received freshman All-American honors.
"I was really shocked," she said. "My biggest thing in choosing a college is a place I could make a difference and get a chance to play as soon as I got there. Western was that type of place for me. I was the only goalie, so I was thrust into a role where I need to be on the top of my game every single game."
WKU lost 2-0 to Denver in the championship game, but Stout figured she would have more opportunities down the road. Since then, WKU has posted records of 14-4-2 and 9-8-3 while falling short of the Sun Belt title game.
Stout has continued to fare well. She has been an All-Sun Belt Conference selection every season. This year, she's 5-3 with a 1.02 GAA, which is third in the league.
When she is finished with school, Stout would like to use her degree to land a job working with commercial building projects. She was a summer intern at Hayes Contracting, working as an assistant project manager with contractors and subcontractors for plumbers and electricians.
Stout aspires to be a project manager.
"You work with the architects, the engineers, the builders," she said. "You're managing everything that goes into a construction project. Then you make sure everything is going smoothly. You coordinate everybody so they're there at the right time."
Currently, Stout is coordinating WKU's effort to make its first NCAA trip. She shares team leadership with Mallory Outerbridge, who leads the Sun Belt in points (17) and is tied for first in goals (seven).
Stout thinks the Hilltoppers have a chance to reach the NCAAs. She is a goalkeeper intent on achieving her own goals, her father said.
"I knew she was going to be good," he said. "She's pretty driven to be successful."
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