By TYLER RILEY

The season was going great for the Shasta High School Wolves girls' soccer team.

The team was scoring goals, playing good defense, and it was looking like the Wolves were going to make the playoffs, something that hadn't happened for Shasta in quite awhile. Things couldn't have been any better for them.

Then Shasta striker Lindsey Curtis, the leading goal scorer, dribbled the ball into the teeth of an opponent's defense. Curtis found some breathing space, planted her feet and was ready to strike the ball past the goalkeeper.

That's when it happened, something every athlete fears. An opposing defender slid into Curtis's left knee, preventing the attempted shot on goal. The tackle ended up costing the Wolves more than just a goal; Curtis had torn the anterior cruciate ligament [ACL] in her left knee.

Curtis felt she could go back into the game after stretching her knee out. Her coach would only let her if she could give him a strong run.

"I knew I couldn't do it," Curtis said. "I knew I was done, I thought the world was at an end."

Curtis was out for the remainder of her senior season.

The injury required seven surgeries and several hours of physical therapy for Curtis, not to mention much pain and anguish.

"Soccer was my life, I wanted to play so bad," Curtis said. "I wanted to help my team. ... It was just awful."

Without Curtis, the Wolves did not score a goal and lost in the playoffs.

Curtis's injury is the most common among athletes.

Many athletes around Utah have gone to recover from their sport injuries.

Jeremy Christensen, a physical therapist at Intermountain Health Care's Orthopedic Specialty Hospital [TOSH], said his most common patients are female soccer players like Curtis who have torn their ACL. Christensen said patella dislocations are also common among his patients.

Christensen believes the reason female soccer players often become patients is because they are built differently than men.

"The alignment of the lower leg is different than a male's," Christensen said. "Everyone is shaped differently; female's hips and quads are generally shaped differently."

Dr. Wiemi Douoguih, an orthopedic surgeon, agrees with Christensen. "One of the biggest things that we found is that when jump landing, a woman's knees tend to point in more during the landing phase," which can cause an ACL injury, Douoguih told a Washington, D.C., television station.

Dr. Douglas Smith sees injuries from all sports. The most common injuries athletes see Smith for are ankle-related.

Christensen believes the best way to prevent injury is strength. The TOSH physical therapist recommends female athletes strengthen their hips and quads.

Smith recommends consistent workouts and a combination of weights and cardiovascular workouts to prevent injuries.

"An athlete needs to have a good warm-up and stretch really well," Smith said. "Wearing the proper equipment, especially shoes, are essential in prevention."

These types of exercises are also used in rehab.

Curtis would start rehab with a heat pad on her knee, then use a stretch band and move on to weights.

"You want to have good motion in the knee when recovering from an injury.

Besides ACL injuries, Smith said Achilles tears are the hardest for an athlete to overcome.

"An Achilles tear becomes an inherited weakness for an athlete," Smith said. "It is always in the back of the athlete's mind."

BYU student Aaron Nilsson tore his ACL during an intramural soccer game in the Richards Building. It was extremely painful.

"I collapsed and heard a loud pop. The pain was horrible," Nilsson said. "I am glad that I never have to

give birth, because that pain from my injury is the worst I hopefully will ever feel."

Psychologically, the injury was hard for Nilsson.

"Mentally, it has been very taxing. Soccer was what I wanted to do for a career and this has all but shot that down," Nilsson said. "I get very emotional when I see intramural games and think about that because I know I really can't do that anymore."

For Curtis, the injury was tough as well.

"I would cry everyday," Curtis said. "I couldn't try out for the BYU soccer team, and was limited in intramural play."

For Curtis and Nilsson, months and months of time on crutches and in physical therapy sessions were required for them to heal from their injuries.

Despite being limited in their soccer careers, both appreciate what they have learned from their time away from the sport they loved.

"I grew so much after it happened," Curtis said. "It was the best thing that could have happened to me. I was obsessed with soccer, now I understand what is truly important in life."

Nilsson also grew from his experience.

"I know that this injury wasn't a fluke. For whatever reason, Heavenly Father wanted it to happen so that I can do what He wants me to do," Nilsson said. "I am sad that I can't play soccer at the level and intensity that I used to, but I am proud

of what I have been able to accomplish."

triley03@hotmail.com

Copyright Brigham Young University 3 Jul 2008