Sept. 11, 2011
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -
Samford soccer player Lindsay Matern can write the book on overcoming adversity. Even better, the Bulldogs' senior midfielder from Lakeland, Fla., can write a How To Guide on rehabbing from knee injuries. Even before stepping on the field at Samford University, Matern suffered seven leg injuries, underwent five knee surgeries and tore her ACL three times.
"I seriously think I could write a book about tearing your ACL," said Matern. "It would definitely be a useful book. I have tons of tips and hints that I could give people when they are going through their rehab. The first one was extremely difficult, but after that the rehab kept getting a little easier and easier."
Sitting on the sideline is never easy, especially for someone as talented as Matern who joined Samford out of high school with a resume as decorated as any player in school history. During her prep career, Matern scored 90 goals and tallied 73 assists in three seasons. She received all-county honors all three years and was named Lakeland High School's Offensive Player of the Year as a sophomore.
Matern, who would often practice with the boys' team in high school, was such an explosive goal-scorer at LHS that the coaches put a rule in place so that her squad wouldn't reach the seven-goal mercy rule too early.
"I had a big leadership role on my team," said Matern. "I scored a lot of goals in high school and there was actually a rule in place where I couldn't score more than three goals in one game. After I scored three goals, I would have to go back and play on defense."
Matern started playing competitive soccer when she was five years old and all of her hard work and dedication paid off in high school as she was being recruiting by Florida State, West Virginia, UCF and Samford. Initially, Matern committed to UCF where she would be able to attend a big university and stay close to home. Orlando is only an hour away from her hometown of Lakeland, Fla.
"As time went on, I didn't really like the team dynamic at Central Florida," explained Matern. "Midway through my senior year, I decommitted from UCF and called (Samford head) Coach (Todd) Yelton and told him that I felt like I was meant to go to Samford and that I really liked the environment, the style of soccer and the players. I also really liked how everybody got along and it was pretty much like a family atmosphere for me."
Matern's inexplicable string of knee injuries began during her sophomore season when she tore her right meniscus. Then, just six months later, her bad luck continued as she tore her left meniscus.
Throughout her remaining years in high school, Matern couldn't evade the injury bug and suffered two more knee injuries.
"In the fall of my senior year, I tore the MCL in my right leg for the first time and I was out for eight weeks," said Matern. "Then, after I took my time to rehab and got 100 percent healthy, I tore it again. That was when I decided not to play anymore high school soccer before college just to be safe."
Upon arriving at Samford in 2007, Matern was a member of the Bulldogs' record-setting recruiting class that was ranked 68th in the nation, No. 15 in the Southeast Region and the best in the Ohio Valley Conference. With high expectations heading into her freshman season, Matern once again suffered a setback as she fractured her tibia on the third day of preseason practice.
"Then, after I redshirted my freshman year, I tore my ACL in the first game of the summer with my club team back in Florida," Matern said. "I had to sit out my redshirt freshman season and then I tore my ACL again in February during spring practice. The third time that I tore my ACL was the day before my 21st birthday. In that surgery, the doctors had to take half of my hamstring to make a double ACL, because my body just rejected everything else they tried."
After Matern's first ACL surgery, the doctors used her patella tendon to replace the missing ligament. Following her second injury, a ligament from a cadaver was used. Typically, after three major knee injuries, competing at the collegiate level would be impossible, but not for Matern.
"Michelle Dorsey (Samford's head athletic trainer), Coach Yelton and all of the doctors that I saw just told me to call it quits, but I did not grow up playing soccer since I was five years old to stop my collegiate career before I was able to even play in one single game. That's what I worked hard for my entire life."
Matern's perseverance has paid off greatly in the last two seasons. This year, she has started in nearly every match and has helped lead the Bulldogs to key non-conference victories against Belmont and Kennesaw State.
Last season, in her first collegiate match, Matern tallied a game-tying goal on the road versus Alabama. Her impact has also been felt on the pitch this season. In Friday's match against No. 23-ranked Auburn, Matern rifled home a shot from 30 yards out to tally her first goal of the young 2011 campaign. The match-tying score occurred in the 57th minute of play and evened the Bulldogs' in-state contest at 2-2.
"I felt like I was in a dream and I didn't want to wake up," said Matern about her goal against Alabama. "I just couldn't stop smiling and I felt like I had won a million dollars. I was happy to just step on the field, much less to have scored the goal to tie the game. Everyone should realize that injuries can happen anytime and every game you play should be looked at as a blessing."
