SLIPPERY ROCK — When Jordan Marks was 4, she had a problem.

She had a poor sense of direction.

Marks, now a senior at Slippery Rock High, often got lost on the soccer field, scoring in her own goal instead of her opponent's.

It prompted her coach at the time to put Marks in the only place where she couldn't become confused: Standing in the mouth of the goal as the last line of defense.

It's her home now, a place where the 5-foot-10 Marks can take over a match with her long arms and lightning-quick reflexes.

“She is definitely the most well-round goalie Slippery Rock has ever had,” said Rockets girls soccer coach Les Smith. “What I mean by well-rounded is you can put her out in the field and she can perform, she can punt half field, she can take her own goal kicks. We've had plays where she plays offense on corner kicks, trying to head the ball against the other team.”

Marks was stellar last season for Slippery Rock with 11 shutouts and 96 saves.

She's been even better this season for the 3-1-1 Rockets.

Saturday in a scoreless tie against Karns City, Marks stopped 18 shots. She's already posted several games of double-digit saves this season.

“It was tense,” Marks said.

But Marks is used to the pressure that goes with the position.

Since she was 10, she's had a pair of goalkeeper coaches to hone her skills. Marks also has worked at her craft, playing nearly year-round.

While others her age want to score goals, she'd rather stop them.

“Most people wouldn't want to stand in a goal and get shot at constantly,” Marks said. “Goalies have to be kind of crazy.”

She's drawn respect for her play from both girls and boys teams.

Two years ago when she was 15, she played goalie for an under- 21 boys team and stonewalled them, too.

“It was probably the scariest thing I've done in my life,” Marks said. “Playing against boys helped. When they came out, they thought, ‘Oh, look, a girl is playing goalie. Someone must have not wanted to play.' But at the end of the game, I earned their respect.'”

She also earns respect every day in practice.

Marks doesn't do anything halfway. When her teammates take shots at her during drills, Marks tries to stop every last one of them, diving to her left, to her right, jumping high and bending down low.

“She's diving on the hard ground instead of saying, ‘Well, if this was a game, I would have dove,'” Smith said. “She's taking that dive. It goes back to that, ‘You practice like you play.'”

Marks has tackled the mental hurdles of being a goalie as well.

She rarely gets flustered. She's rarely caught out of position.

“If you think too much about it, you'll get lost in it,” Marks said. “So, the biggest thing is you just have to react. Honestly, that's the best advice you can give a goalie: react.”

While most keepers dread facing penalty kicks, Marks relishes them.

“It's my favorite thing,” Marks says, smiling. “It's a one-on-one situation. It's my time to show my stuff. In some games, it's either the offense or defense showing its stuff. It's kind of just me out there.”

Marks has her eyes set on playing Division I soccer next season. Already she has received lots of attention.

And why not? Since she was 4, she's been groomed — and has worked hard — for it.

“I've done this for a really long time,” Marks said. “There's nothing more I love to do.”