Tied at End of Game
A hard fought game has been played but the score is still tied. Should the team play for the tie or go for the win and possibly lose. The goalkeeper's actions have a big factor on how their team pursues the remainder of the game
For playing for the tie there are three options for the goalkeeper: Let the team play how they have been, go more defensive, or go more attacking. Letting the team play how they have been has a good chance of working as it is how the rest of the game has gone. In this case, the goalkeeper does not need to communicate much different to their team except encouragement for keeping the same intensity of play up. As shown in the picture below, this is how the team would have been playing for the entire game and will continue to play for the rest of the game if that is the option that is chose. The only issues to continuing to play this way is that the opposing team could start attacking hard so this tactic would not end up being viable. Another issue is that there is no goal in mind. The team would not be sure if they are trying to play for the tie or to try to win.
The second option would to be to go more defensive. This would be used to play for the tie. As shown in the picture below, the team would drop back some. The team would not need to drop back completely as they still need to be able to attack. The goalkeeper becomes involved as they need to communicate to their team to start dropping off more. The issue with this is that if the other team scores, it may be hard to turn the mentality of the team from defending to attacking.
The third option is to go attacking. This would be used to try to win. The team would need to push up to try to attack. The goalkeeper needs to start the pushing by stepping up a little off their line. The goalkeeper does not need to be as high as if the team was losing and they need to get a goal. This along with communication will push the team forward some. The goalkeeper needs to change the mentality of the team from playing the same to attacking. In the picture below, the team is pushed up more than they were when they were playing normally. Notice how the goalkeeper is pushed up a little bit, which pushes the rest of the team up.
Using these steps the goalkeeper will be able to assist their team in holding on the to tie or going for the win.