Idaho goalkeeper Liz Boyden said it is amazing how vividly she remembers the play that ended her season last fall.
File photo by Jake Barber | Argonaut Senior goalkeeper Liz Boyden dives for the ball during practice in 2009.
In the third match of the season against Seattle, Boyden went to clear a ball out of the 18-yard box and collided with an opposing player as she swung her leg through the ball.
The next thing she knew she was on the ground in shock. She had just broken her leg.
“I think it was the sound more than anything that really bothered me because that’s when I really knew that something was wrong,” she said. “The first thing that went through my head was the thought that ‘My season is done, I can’t play.'”
Luckily for Boyden — and athletes in all NCAA sports who suffer season-ending injuries early — she was eligible for a medical redshirt, which allows her to return this fall to play what will be her senior season.
Now, she is back on the pitch during Idaho’s spring season getting her playing legs under her for the first time since the injury occurred.
“I think it’s fantastic where she’s at considering the break she had,” goalkeepers coach Grant Williams said. “She’s doing well what she’s always done … The thing I’m most impressed with is her distribution. Especially having that break on the well, to be able to kick it that far already is ridiculous.”
Boyden described her overall playing health as close to 80 percent, and has played a half in each of the four matches the Vandals played during the spring.
“I almost feel like I’m having to start from the ground up again,” Boyden said. “I’ve lost a lot of technique, even the basic stuff.”
She said increased communication has helped her make up for what she is missing physically during the spring.
“I’m trying to use (the injury) as an opportunity to fix what I wasn’t as good at before. It’s giving me an opportunity to correct myself and become a better keeper,” Boyden said.
The added element is a by-product of watching the season from the sidelines, which gave her a fresh perspective on the
game, she said.
“Being goalkeeper you don’t really see what goes on the upper half of the field, so being able to see a whole game,” Boyden said. “(Being able to watch) you get an outside perspective, and it helps going in.”
The last thing standing in Boyden’s way is regaining the confidence to throw her body at the ball.
“She just needs to trust herself,” Williams said. “When she doesn’t think and just does it, she is still making the same brilliant save she was a year ago at this time.”
Boyden’s comeback could provide stability to an Idaho defense that saw four different goalkeepers get playing time last season, and gave up 1.5 goals per game.
“I think (the defense) was good in the fall, but there’s always been that level of trust with Liz,” senior centerback Christine Leathem said. “Her coming back was a great feeling. She impressed everyone the first day she came back.”
Boyden expects a summer of physical and mental rest will get her to the 100-percent threshold she was at before the injury.
“I feel that that’s contributing, not being able to be mentally there,” Boyden said. “I believe that I could be even better than I was in the fall.”
Sean Kramer can be reached at [email protected]