TEMPE, Ariz. -- Graham Winkworth had no idea what type of incoming goalkeeper he had inherited when he replaced Kevin Boyd as the Sun Devils women's soccer coach in November.
"Not straightaway because Nikki was two weeks late for training," Winkworth said.
"More like three months late," Nikki Panas said sheepishly.
Panas has been worth the wait. Before a lopsided loss at No. 2 Stanford on Oct. 1 that Winkworth said had everyone licking their wounds, the freshman keeper had allowed 11 goals in 10 games.
Just as importantly, she had provided an element to the Sun Devils' attack that Winkworth deems crucial as he tries to rebuild the program into a Pac-12 power.
"She keeps telling me she's a center back and I'm like, 'get your butt back in the goal,'" Winkworth said, chuckling. "In truth, with how I would like to play the game with the ball playing out of the back, it's important that our goalkeeper basically becomes an 11th field player for us.
"It's about keeping the ball for longer. If we can pass back to the goalkeeper because she's good with her feet, it's another angle that we might not get with another player, and she's very good at that. Sometimes, you'll see her making a little more adventurous runs than you might see from other goalkeepers. We're a high risk, high reward style of soccer. We understand that mistakes might be made but Nikki has really limited those and that enables us to have an 11th attacker on the field."
Panas has an advantage over many Sun Devils in that she is familiar with that style of play. Then again, she's familiar with a lot of styles. Panas, who grew up in Edmonton as the youngest of six kids, has dual Polish-Canadian citizenship. Her parents, Edward and Maria, both emigrated from Poland to Canada before she was born and her oldest brother John played soccer in the Junior Bundesliga in Germany.
Panas, who speaks Polish, English, German, French and Russian, has played for the Polish U15 and U17 national teams where she witnessed multiple international playing styles. She hopes to play for the Polish U19 team.
"Soccer has always been in my blood, but I lived out on some acreage in Canada so I didn't have exposure to a league when I was younger," she said. "I just kicked the ball around with a dog."
Panas never believed she was destined to be an elite athlete. Her dad had other thoughts.
"I was a bit of a chubby, husky kid," she said, laughing. "I wasn't the most athletic kid growing up, but I liked sports and I was really competitive. I just never had the condition for it.
"My father played professionally and he saw something in me; he saw the potential in me because I have the height (5-11) and the body for it. He took me to the side and just ran me into the ground. He said 'you're going to get your condition and you're going to play sports because it not only gives you organization but something to fight for. You have to have something to fight for and you will meet a lot of people."
Boyd discovered Panas while she was playing for the Polish U17 team, and sent assistant Scott Champ to scout her at a Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) elite round qualifying tournament for the European Championships.
"We played France, Scotland and Slovakia in that tournament," Panas said. "That was one of the best tournaments I played but hopefully I increase that standard."
Panas committed to Boyd without truly understanding what that meant, or what the collegiate soccer scene would present her. Now that she's here, she has no regrets.
"Being in the Pac-12, which is the best conference in the country, I like the pressure," she said. "I have to improve my conditioning and footwork and so many little things. It's also a huge mental game as a goalkeeper because you can do everything right and still get scored on. At the end of the day you have to just say, 'they scored on me and I can live with it.'"
Panas has the advantage of working with goalkeeper coach Alistair "Ally" Maxwell, who played professionally in Europe and famously won the Scottish Cup with Motherwell, playing most of the second half and extra time with broken ribs, a ruptured spleen and double vision sustained in a collision with Dundee United defender John Clark. Maxwell also works with SC Del Sol Soccer Club in Arizona.
"She's got best goalkeeping coach in the country," Winkworth said. "For him to be coaching in the collegiate ladies level -- I jumped at the chance to work alongside of him."
Winkworth said Panas' vast international experience has provided her with poise, a confidence level and communication skills he doesn't normally see in freshmen. Between those qualities and her obvious athleticism, Winkworth isn't shy about projecting Panas' future with the Sun Devils.
"I obviously had high hopes because of the experience she's got with her national team," Winkworth said. "I already think she has lived up to the hopes I had, but with her work ethic, her professionalism and the coaching ability of Ally, she will be the best goalkeeper in the country by the time she graduates from ASU."
Panas accepts that challenge.
"If he knows I can do it, I can definitely do it," she said. "It's hard to get a person to believe in you like that and push you as much as my coach is so I'm going to do it. I'm not normally confident when I say things like that, but I'm going to work hard to get there."
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"Not straightaway because Nikki was two weeks late for training," Winkworth said.
"More like three months late," Nikki Panas said sheepishly.
Panas has been worth the wait. Before a lopsided loss at No. 2 Stanford on Oct. 1 that Winkworth said had everyone licking their wounds, the freshman keeper had allowed 11 goals in 10 games.
Just as importantly, she had provided an element to the Sun Devils' attack that Winkworth deems crucial as he tries to rebuild the program into a Pac-12 power.
"She keeps telling me she's a center back and I'm like, 'get your butt back in the goal,'" Winkworth said, chuckling. "In truth, with how I would like to play the game with the ball playing out of the back, it's important that our goalkeeper basically becomes an 11th field player for us.
"It's about keeping the ball for longer. If we can pass back to the goalkeeper because she's good with her feet, it's another angle that we might not get with another player, and she's very good at that. Sometimes, you'll see her making a little more adventurous runs than you might see from other goalkeepers. We're a high risk, high reward style of soccer. We understand that mistakes might be made but Nikki has really limited those and that enables us to have an 11th attacker on the field."
Panas has an advantage over many Sun Devils in that she is familiar with that style of play. Then again, she's familiar with a lot of styles. Panas, who grew up in Edmonton as the youngest of six kids, has dual Polish-Canadian citizenship. Her parents, Edward and Maria, both emigrated from Poland to Canada before she was born and her oldest brother John played soccer in the Junior Bundesliga in Germany.
Panas, who speaks Polish, English, German, French and Russian, has played for the Polish U15 and U17 national teams where she witnessed multiple international playing styles. She hopes to play for the Polish U19 team.
"Soccer has always been in my blood, but I lived out on some acreage in Canada so I didn't have exposure to a league when I was younger," she said. "I just kicked the ball around with a dog."
Panas never believed she was destined to be an elite athlete. Her dad had other thoughts.
"I was a bit of a chubby, husky kid," she said, laughing. "I wasn't the most athletic kid growing up, but I liked sports and I was really competitive. I just never had the condition for it.
"My father played professionally and he saw something in me; he saw the potential in me because I have the height (5-11) and the body for it. He took me to the side and just ran me into the ground. He said 'you're going to get your condition and you're going to play sports because it not only gives you organization but something to fight for. You have to have something to fight for and you will meet a lot of people."
Boyd discovered Panas while she was playing for the Polish U17 team, and sent assistant Scott Champ to scout her at a Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) elite round qualifying tournament for the European Championships.
"We played France, Scotland and Slovakia in that tournament," Panas said. "That was one of the best tournaments I played but hopefully I increase that standard."
Panas committed to Boyd without truly understanding what that meant, or what the collegiate soccer scene would present her. Now that she's here, she has no regrets.
"Being in the Pac-12, which is the best conference in the country, I like the pressure," she said. "I have to improve my conditioning and footwork and so many little things. It's also a huge mental game as a goalkeeper because you can do everything right and still get scored on. At the end of the day you have to just say, 'they scored on me and I can live with it.'"
Panas has the advantage of working with goalkeeper coach Alistair "Ally" Maxwell, who played professionally in Europe and famously won the Scottish Cup with Motherwell, playing most of the second half and extra time with broken ribs, a ruptured spleen and double vision sustained in a collision with Dundee United defender John Clark. Maxwell also works with SC Del Sol Soccer Club in Arizona.
"She's got best goalkeeping coach in the country," Winkworth said. "For him to be coaching in the collegiate ladies level -- I jumped at the chance to work alongside of him."
Winkworth said Panas' vast international experience has provided her with poise, a confidence level and communication skills he doesn't normally see in freshmen. Between those qualities and her obvious athleticism, Winkworth isn't shy about projecting Panas' future with the Sun Devils.
"I obviously had high hopes because of the experience she's got with her national team," Winkworth said. "I already think she has lived up to the hopes I had, but with her work ethic, her professionalism and the coaching ability of Ally, she will be the best goalkeeper in the country by the time she graduates from ASU."
Panas accepts that challenge.
"If he knows I can do it, I can definitely do it," she said. "It's hard to get a person to believe in you like that and push you as much as my coach is so I'm going to do it. I'm not normally confident when I say things like that, but I'm going to work hard to get there."
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