Prep girls’ soccer: Stellar save helps Folsom’s playoff rebirth roll into semifinals

Big-time players make big-time plays in big-time games. For the Folsom high school girls’ soccer team, senior goalie Izzy Palmatier showed she’s big time Wednesday night.

Folsom was pitted against Inderkum in the quarterfinals of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I playoffs. The fourth-seeded Bulldogs beat the fifth-seeded Tigers 1-0 in a defensive battle capped by an incredible save by Palmatier.

Down by one goal with about 12 minutes remaining in the second half, the Tigers were hungry to score and on the attack. One of their forwards was finally able to slip past the stout Bulldogs defenders and had nothing but the field and Palmatier in front of her. But Palmatier, as calm as ever, went straight up with her opponent and shut down the would-be equalizer.

“I knew that I just had to stay in front of the player,” said Palmatier. “I knew that she had a lot of space in between me and her, so I had to come out to take that away. I had to just stay as big as I could be, stay on my toes, and ready for anything. I had to try to make her make a mistake and do whatever I could to make a save.”

As talented a keeper as there is in the Sierra Foothill League, Palmatier did not always play keeper. She began playing soccer when she was just 3 years old and plans on playing for many years to come. She transitioned to keeper when she joined the San Juan soccer club a few years ago.

The transition to keeper now looks like destiny. Folsom is a very sports-centric high school, and to be a standout player on any of its teams is very telling. Izzy showed poise on the pitch whenever Inderkum was on the attack. She has a resiliency which will allow her to succeed beyond high school.

“Izzy is a four-year varsity player,” said coach Richard Carrigan. “She has a high standard that we hold her to and she does a really good job of sticking to it.”

Sophomore Madilyn Stroh provided the lone Folsom goal; Palmatier made it stand up.

The win was just their second in the past 11 games, speaking to the depth of Folsom’s Sierra Foothill League. The Bulldogs went 2-5-3 in league play and the playoffs offered a fresh start, of sorts. Up next is Oak Ridge in the semifinals, which Folsom tied and lost 1-0 to in the regular season.

“We’ve played them a couple times this year,” said coach Carrigan. “They have a really good team. They’re very solid straight up the middle. They’ve got some really good attackers, midfielders, defenders and a good goalkeeper. They’re ranked number one in the section for a reason.”

But a hot goalie can go a long way toward taking down a top seed. Folsom heads to El Dorado Hills to play the semifinal game at 6 p.m. Friday.

This story was originally published February 17, 2022 at 5:22 AM.