On today’s Lax Goalie Rat Podcast episode, I sit down to chat with starting goalie for the Richmond Spiders, Zach Vigue.
Zach is coming off a successful 2022 season, which saw the redshirt freshman take home SoCon All-Tournament team honors after the Spiders knocked off top-seeded and ninth-ranked Jacksonville 10-9 in the SoCon Championship Game and their 4th NCAA tournament birth in program history.
In the NCAA Tournament, Richmond would face off against the No. 3 seed Penn and would push them to the brink falling in heartbreaking fashion 11-10 in overtime.
The native of Apex, NC got his start in the cage after seeing a sweet, dyed Eclipse 1 goalie stick in a sporting goods store and after begging his parents for it as a Christmas gift, Vigue started his journey as a lacrosse goalie and has never looked back.
Vigue’s 2022 didn’t start off as bright as it had exactly ended. After being diagnosed with depression and anxiety coming out of the fall of 2021 Zach, would start the season as a backup for the Spiders.
But he would wait for his opportunity and once that came he would rise to the occasion starting in the team’s 5th game of the season not relinquishing the starting role after that point.
Zach opens up to us about his mental health on the podcast and takes about how being a goalie could be taxing at times.
Vigue would go on to pick up SoCon Player of the Month honors in May of 2022 after posting a 4-1 record in the month and a 10.67 goals-against average. He tallied 16 saves in the victory over Virginia and posted a career-high 19 saves over High Point, earning SoCon Defensive Player of the Week honors for his efforts.
Zach joins the show today to discuss playing under pressure, how he became a Richmond Spider, his mental health journey, and much more!
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