Despite the cliche of taking one game at a time, Beattie Goad could be forgiven for having one eye on the few months ahead, considering her upcoming mid-year departure to Stanford University.
However, while the W-League champion’s current stint at Bulleen will be interrupted before its conclusion, it hasn’t stopped her from being a key cog in Ricardo Martinez’s machine at the Veneto Club so far in 2016.
The team’s performances haven’t suffered so far either, with the Lions sitting on second place after an early winning run that only recently has been halted by a defeat and a draw.
Goad’s motivation remains as strong as ever to ensure the Lions are best-placed for silverware come the end of the season, highlighted by her response after her side’s 2-2 draw with Calder United, after Bulleen let slip a lead late via Gulcan Koca’s 88th minute equaliser.
“It feels very, very bitter, annoying that it has to be off the set piece, something that we’ll have to work on this week, just because you cant let the game go on a set piece,” Goad said.
“I’m definitely not happy on my conversion, it’s something I need to work on. I think we need to not hesitate as much, be a bit more calm on the ball in the last third.
“Last week we were definitely outplayed in certain times. Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise, maybe we do need to wake up a bit and lift our game. Its something to work off, and who doesn’t like a challenge?”
With Bulleen looking to rectify last season’s absence from the NPL finals, Martinez has assembled a strong squad, keeping a core of its members from last season with the addition of some highly regarded WPL and W-League players.
It’s meant that in order to both figure out a strongest XI, and keep his squad receiving adequate game time, rotations have come thick and fast this season, with hardly ever the same XI starting week to week.
Goad said such an approach was beneficial to keeping the squad driven to consistently train and play at a high level.
“It means obviously the intensity steps up on the park in training,” she said.
“People want to keep their spot and people want to win a spot, so it does bring some rivalry into it, but hopefully the intensity will keep lifting.”
After a whirldwind year in which Goad made the switch from rivals Victory to Melbourne City, she worked her way into the starting XI of Joe Montemurro’s side, which enjoyed a clean sweep of the league.
The former year 12 student also placed in the top 1% of students in Victoria in 2015, securing a move to Stanford University in the process.
Goad becomes another Australian to undertake an American odyssey, and joins a former NCAA Division I-winning Stanford Cardinal program that has produced a number of USWNT World Cup winners.
Despite college ahead of her, Goad says she is under no constraints during her current NPLW season with Bulleen Lions.
“Its kind of a bit hazy at the moment because I’m working on my Visa,” Goad said.
“The plan is to go early June, but its not certain. I’m just free to play how I want, really, because pre-season starts late July, so I’m going over there to get used to the strength and conditioning through their coach there.
“So I’m kind of preparing myself for pre-season there, but at the same time I’m not relaxing, but taking it a bit easier knowing that I have quite a challenge ahead of me, socially, academically and physically.
“But I keep doing all my extra things, so there’s not too much that’s changed, really.”