Clemson grad student was once a history-making kicker at Kent State

April Goss is used to setting her goals high.

It’s no surprise, considering what she’s accomplished in her life, that the Clemson graduate student assistant in academic-athletic services has her sights set on a coveted, hard-to-come-by sideline pass for the No. 5 Tigers’ season opener against Kent State at noon Saturday.

There’s one catch: If Goss lands it, she'll have to watch from the opponent’s side of the field.

“I’m not that important at Clemson,” Goss joked.

That's fine, though. Goss is just as comfortable in blue and gold as she is in orange and purple.

Before she was accepted into the clinical mental health counseling program at Clemson, she was a history-making member of the Golden Flashes football team two seasons ago.

Goss became the second woman to score in an NCAA football game when she booted an extra point through the uprights against Delaware State in 2015.

While it was monumental for college football, the former Kent State kicker continues to aim high with her goals.

“In a way, I was kind of excited to move on from that after I left Kent State,” Goss said. “It’s super great, but I don’t want it to be the only defining moment of my life.”

Growing up a soccer player, she asked her dad if she could join the football team heading into her junior season at Hopewell High School in Aliquippa, Pa.

He said she’d never play. Goss persisted. Dad eventually said OK. She spent two seasons as a backup kicker and had three attempts in her prep career, but the itch wasn’t scratched.

“There’s so much about the game that I loved: the passion, the intensity, the competitiveness,” said Goss, a lifelong Pittsburgh Steelers fan.

Goss contacted the staff of former Kent State coach Darrell Hazell before she arrived on campus. She received an invitation to spring tryouts, and she stuck with the team for the next four seasons.

“I dreamt big, but I was also understanding that I don’t deserve this,” Goss said. “The point of each game is that we win.”

Hazell, though, told her he wanted her to kick in a live game if the team was up three touchdowns. It didn’t happen in 2012, although they came close in Kent State’s last winning campaign. Hazell left for Purdue after the season, and in came coach Paul Haynes, who made the same vow. He delivered.

“I was in such utter disbelief that two men wanted to put me in a game,” Goss said. “At no point did they have to make that promise. At no point did they have to follow through with it.”

After Goss graduated, she started looking at graduate schools that met three requirements: the right program, warmer weather than Ohio and a major Division I athletics department.

“Clemson fit the mold for all three of those,” Goss said.

She works with student-athletes from Clemson track, women’s soccer, men’s tennis and baseball teams, but she has her sights on helping football players as well.

“I’ve been bugging them,” Goss said. “Give me some walk-on specialists. Those are my people.”

This story was originally published August 30, 2017 at 5:15 PM with the headline "Clemson grad student was once a history-making kicker at Kent State."