Any team is said to be a sum of its parts, yet it takes a certain something to pull together all of the pieces.

For Texas soccer, graduate goalkeeper Savannah Madden is that certain something, providing stability and keeping the Longhorns in Big 12 title contention with her stellar play in-goal.

Madden was the No. 2-ranked goalkeeper recruit in the country coming out of high school, according to Top Drawer Soccer, but she didn’t get consistent playing time until her junior season at Texas. Once she took the reins, Madden slowly transformed into a dominant force, stifling defenses with her unrelenting effort on the back end.

“I don’t think (head coach Angela Kelly) ever really has to worry about me having a bad game,” Madden said. “I usually like to give 110%, because no one can ever ask (for) more (than) that.”

As the Longhorns’ defensive general, Madden has rallied the troops and gone on several record-breaking streaks herself. In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Madden went on a 306:01 stretch without giving up a goal. In her very next season as a fifth-year senior, Madden went on an even more impressive 552:56 streak without giving up a goal, frustrating opposing offenses for long stretches of the schedule.

Even when Madden does give up the rare goal, she quickly refocuses and rebounds to give her team a chance to rally back on the scoreboard.

“No goalkeeper likes to be scored on, so you get down on yourself, but you’ve got to have a short memory and move on to the next play,” Madden said. “You want to communicate with the defense (and look at) what to fix next time to prevent the shot. But personally, I just move on.”

Madden’s ability to almost single-handedly keep Texas in games has been the necessary backbone of the team, providing the Texas attack with chance after chance to take the lead in close games. Her consistency in shutting down offenses makes Madden an invaluable asset to her coach.

“She’s just consistent back there,” Kelly said. “We needed her distribution (against Kansas State) and her decision making out of the back. … She did a great job.”

It’s easy to focus on flashy goal-scorers like the star sophomore duo of forward Trinity Byars and Lexi Missimo when they score most of Texas’ goals. But in Missimo’s absence, Madden’s presence has been felt in nearly every game the Longhorns have played this season. 

Madden’s rock-solid play in goal has propelled Texas to one of its best starts in recent memory, and Madden hopes that this team can achieve its ultimate goal of adding to the Longhorns’ trophy case come the end of the season.

“I know we’re a little rocky at times; sometimes I can bail us out,” Madden said. “We’re trying to win a Big 12 and an NCAA Championship. … I think we can wholeheartedly do it as long as we come to play every game.”