It's rare for a goalie to score a goal in any sport. When it happens, it's almost always the case of a soccer goalie who takes his team's penalty kicks or a hockey goalie who gets lucky when an opponent has pulled the other goaltender and another teammate sets him or her up for a cross ice shot.
That's precisely what makes Bloomington (Minn.) Kennedy High goalie David Johnson's achievement all the more remarkable: He scored a goal against a full strength Farmington (Minn.) High squad, and he did it completely unassisted.
Here's how Johnson's goal unfolded, as detailed by the Minneapolis Star-Tribune: Farmington had the puck in the offensive zone when a delayed penalty was called against a Kennedy player. Because the team knew a penalty was coming in what was at that point a defensive stalemate, Farmington briefly evacuated its own goal.
Then, in the midst of a prolonged Farmington attack, Johnson slapped the puck out of the zone to clear it … and it carried all the way into the net. The result was an uber-rare unassisted goal for the goalie, one which gave Kennedy a surprising and important 1-0 lead; Johnson's squad would eventually prevail by a 2-1 score.
The goalie's rather unique final stat line? One goal, 1 goal allowed and 27 saves. Not bad for a spot start.
"I kind of just lifted my hands up in the air, and I celebrated a little bit," Johnson told the Star-Tribune. "I thought it might be the only score of the game. I didn't really care who scored at that point."
The fact that Johnson was even playing in the game was a surprise. The sophomore serves as Kennedy's backup goalie, but was pressed into action because the team's scheduled starter was out sick.
The goal obviously made Johnson's start more special, both for the star of the night himself and for his teammates.
"When they announced David scored the unassisted goal, the crowd and the kids on our bench just erupted," Kennedy assistant boys hockey coach Jeff Atchison told the Star-Tribune.
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