For any college athlete, the chance to play for a national championship is a special career moment.
But for Western Washington University soccer player Erin Russell, who endured a severe knee injury and subsequent surgery 31/2 years ago, simply being able to play the game — anywhere and for any reason, let alone a national title — is already special indeed.
Russell, a Brier resident, tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her right leg while playing club soccer in the spring of her junior year at Mountlake Terrace High School. She had surgery three weeks later — part of her hamstring muscle was used to replicate a new ACL — and then began her rehabilitation, though the duration of her recovery did not allow her to play a senior season for the Hawks.
But with steadfast determination, Russell not only prevailed through the difficult and often painful days of rehab, she embarked on a successful career at WWU. Now a junior, she became the team’s starting left back this season and has helped the second-ranked Vikings to a 21-1-1 record heading into Thursday’s NCAA Division II national semifinal game against two-time defending champion Grand Valley State.
If WWU wins, the title game against the winner of the Columbus State-Bridgeport semi will be Saturday.
Given all she has been through in recent years, a championship “would mean the world,” Russell said. “And I think we have a really good chance of winning it all. Our team has no doubt that we can do it, and when we want something we work really hard to get it.”
Russell was playing for the Northwest Nationals club team on March 11, 2012, when she tore her ACL. She was on crutches for a month and wore a knee brace for three months, and by the summer she was back to running and kicking a ball. She was finally ready for contact drills in the late fall, but by then her high school season was wrapping up.
Western Washington had showed recruiting interest before her injury, and afterward the Vikings were still in touch, though the coaches wanted to see her compete at full speed. She attended a WWU camp in the winter and was invited back to a team practice, and it was then she was offered a scholarship.
“We loved her as a player when we watched her in high school,” said Vikings head coach Travis Connell. “She’s explosive, athletic, and she has one of the best left foots we’ve ever had on our team. And she has a drive, which you could see when she was playing (years ago). She was hungry and she was never satisfied, and when you see that in a youth player you know she’s going to continue to work hard to improve when she’s in college.
“The timing of her injury (in the recruiting process) was probably the worst. But she was able to overcome all that, find a way on our team, and then find a way into the starting lineup. And she’s become a key, key contributor for us.”
Russell played forward in high school, but early on Connell approached her about moving to defense. The reason, he explained, is that “she thrived in (one-on-one) situations. Whether she was dribbling against someone, or whether she was trying to stop someone, she was so competitive in those individual battles. And that’s something that’s great for defenders because they’re in those situations all the time.
“It isn’t always easy to have that conversation with a student-athlete,” he added with a laugh. “But Erin is a team player. Even though (moving to defense) was not exactly what she wanted, she understood and wanted to do everything she could to help the team. And she is the perfect player as far as the characteristics you need for that position.”
Russell played sparingly in her first two seasons — “She’s on one of the best teams in the country … and there’s not a lot of freshmen that come in and play right away,” Connell pointed out — but she is one of just six Vikings and one of just two defenders to start every game this season.
“It turns out that I’m a defender at heart,” Russell said. “At first I was a little confused. It was like, ‘What the heck am I doing back here?’ But once I practiced it, I realized how natural it was to me.”
Defense is a big reason the Vikings have reached the national semis. Western Washington has 14 shutouts while surrendering just 11 goals for the entire season, and is taking a 20-match unbeaten string into Thursday’s game.
“I think our chances (for a championship) are great,” Connell said. “We’re healthy, and we played the best soccer we have this season in our last three games. So we’re peaking at the right time.”
In 2013, Russell’s freshman season, Western Washington also reached the D-II Final Four, but lost a 2-1 overtime heartbreaker to West Florida in the semis. But despite that disappointment, WWU’s seniors and juniors “have played in a lot of really important games in the playoffs and they’ve reached the Final Four previously,” Connell said. “So there’s a ton of experience and maturity.”
It is, he went on, “a real even-keel group. I don’t need to make pump-up speeches before matches because they know what they have to do to bring energy and composure for every match. It’s their goals and their team, and they fully expected to be (at nationals) and trying to win a championship at the end of the year.”
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