Notre Dame senior goalie Samantha Giacolone is accustomed to directing—making sure her defense stops the ball or giving her the best chance to make a save. Now, it appears, she is able to add a directorial debut of another kind.
Giacolone is the subject of Notre Dame’s latest edition of “Inside the Mind,” a video series that is told from the athlete’s point of view. Past participants have been Heisman Trophy candidate and current Philadelphia Eagle Josh Adams, captain and current AHL forward Jake Evans, and NCAA champion and two-time Olympian fencer Lee Kiefer.
“They are among the best players in their programs,” Giacolone said. “It gave me chills to be inside their heads – it makes you amped up. I’ve watched them before I’ve played to get me going. I hope that mine does the same for others, but showing women as strong as equals to men, that we’re powerful sports figures in the sports world, is going to be huge.”
Giacolone’s role in the film is unique compared to her contemporaries. Firstly, while the previous films have focused solely on the protagonist and a specific play they see, this one involves the teammates in front of Giacolone. This was by design.
Our defensive unit is in sync,” Giacolone noted. “If you’re in my mind you need to be in theirs as well.”
Secondly, the two-time first-team All-ACC netminder took control of the set. Giacolone was afforded the opportunity to take a directorial view of the project, working with Notre Dame producer and videographer Cody Baker.
“It was really fun for me,” Giacolone said. “I have never done anything like this…Working behind the scenes with Cody Baker, drawing up the play we wanted to talk about, and drawing what I wanted to see: a strong woman and show people that we’re warriors and we’re not just playing a silly game.”
The perspective of a goalie is unique. It can be exciting and action-filled as well as lonely and demoralizing. Giacolone was careful to include this as the mentality of a goalie is shaped by multiple facets of a game — opponents, teammates and personal performance.
“I think a lot of people take for granted how mentally strong a goalie needs to be,” said Giacolone. “And how if they make a mistake, they need to have a strong mindset to get to the next play. They have the no control over who’s shooting, where it’s coming from and sometimes goalies take the brunt of the consequence when a team is letting in a lot of goals, especially when they’re taken out. I need to show that a lot of this game is out of our control.”
In this particular film, Giacolone and her teammates recreate what many consider the save of the year on North Carolina’s Jamie Ortega in a 9-7 win on March 31. Giacolone stopped 14 shots that day, but that first-half save provided the belief that the Fighting Irish could turn the upset.
“We had a game plan,” Giacolone added. “And I wanted it to be a key play in our moment that our team is going far, you can’t take us for granted, the potential in that moment, that the sky is the limit. We don’t need anything else, we have everything here.”
The Fighting Irish are in preparation for their first-round matchup against Stanford with a place on the line to face fourth-seeded Northwestern. With Giacolone’s collegiate career coming to a close this month, this video will serve as an homage to the position she loves and the teammates who guided her success.
“Regardless of what the outcomes will be for us, filming with the people that I literally shed blood, sweat and tears with for 2-4 years is remarkable,” Giacolone concluded. “It shows how close-knit this group is and how much we fight. As a senior, it’s a nice cherry on top to be doing this on the way out. It’s such an honor and privilege to do one of these videos because not many get picked to do this.”