2008 Woodie Awards
During the storm that arises on the field her coach says defensive centerback Jen Vilkoski is the calm
Kyle Shaner
- Page 1 of 3 next >
With a 3-2 win Friday, the Ball State University soccer team lost its program-record shutout streak at seven games.
One of the most important players to the streak was junior Jen Vilkoski. While things are going great for the center defender now, a little more than a year ago, her situation was not as easy.
Vilkoski played in Ball State's win against IPFW to begin the 2006 season, but she was then benched. She spent the next 11 games, spanning more than a month, on the Cardinals' sideline.
"It was hard," she said. "I definitely got down on myself. I tried to stay positive. My parents and friends kept me positive. It was hard though, I was upset...a lot. I just kept working hard. I knew eventually it would pay off."
Vilkoski was recovering from a torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament. Her hard work finally paid off when she returned to the field Oct. 6, 2006 facing Central Michigan University.
Coach Michelle Salmon said Vilkoski was not healthy enough to play in Ball State's defense, which does not substitute often, prior to her return against Central Michigan.
"In order for Jen to be healthy I needed her to play 90 minutes," Salmon said. "At the end of last year her knee was finally healthy enough in my opinion to play 90 minutes."
Vilkoski said she knew that she had to "leave it all on the field" to make sure she had an opportunity to continue playing after she returned from her injury.
One week after her return, she earned the chance to start for the Cardinals. While she was encouraged by her promotion, she said, she was still concerned about losing her spot on the field.
"It took a few games," she said. "Like the first game, I was like 'OK this is nice,' but I knew that I didn't have that spot secure so I had to work ten times harder than I did at that time to make sure it was my spot. It took three or four games."
In Vilkoski's first start of the 2006 season, Ball State shut out Ohio University, and the Cardinals went on to post a then program record four consecutive shutouts.
Since the Ohio game, Vilkoski has started every game for Ball State but one on Oct. 14. She made the decision not to play minutes before the game began because of an injury unrelated to her knee.
Salmon said she could see Vilkoski's knee improving throughout the 2006 season.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
Scott
posted 10/25/07 @ 9:53 AM EST
Seriously, who writes these headlines?
JDL
posted 10/25/07 @ 5:46 PM EST
What the hell does that mean (the headline)?
Can someone please fix that?...it is seriously embarassing...
At the very least get the cliche right. (Continued…)
Levin T. Black
posted 10/26/07 @ 1:47 AM EST
That is her nickname given to her by her coach. And the eye of the hurricane is not the calm before the storm it is the calm while a storm is going on everywhere else. (Continued…)
Post a Comment