Drive to Compete Fuels Stodden's Return

Hailey Stodden has always had the drive to compete. Ever since her recreational soccer days, she knew she wanted to play collegiate soccer.

"I just remember being so competitive," Stodden recalled. "That drive not to lose kind of started when I was eight or nine, maybe 10. I just got super competitive and that's when I realized that soccer allotted me an outlet for my competitiveness. I enjoyed the way that I felt."

That competitive drive led to an outstanding high school career at Broomfield High School. Stodden scored 87 career goals and had 35 assists in her four years. She was the BoCoPreps Front Range League and the State 5A Player of the Year and capped off her senior year by winning Gatorade State Player of the Year.

Rewind to 2018.

Stodden committed to Utah early in her high school career and in her first season in Salt Lake City she earned Pac-12 All-Freshman honors as a defender. The Broomfield, Colo., native, maybe poetically, scored her first and only collegiate goal in her return to Colorado. She notched the game-winner at Prentup Field upsetting the No. 21 Buffaloes and ultimately helping knock CU out of an NCAA Tournament bid.

"Sometimes they [CU coaches and players] give me hard time," Stodden joked about the goal. "I only scored once [at Utah]. It was great that it was against CU. I wish I scored more. Some people give me crap but it's kind of died down now that I've been here."

Stodden started every match in her two seasons at Utah, totaling seven points (1 G, 5 A). Then 2020 struck, leaving her with a torn ACL and decisions to be made.

"[Tearing my ACL] kind of made me wake up and see that my time is short, and I want to enjoy where I'm at," Stodden explained. "I have big goals. I want to play after college. I opened up my options, but deep down I wanted to come back home and I knew that I was going to be able to be successful here. It was always my dream to play at CU, so it's kind of cool to come and fulfill those dreams."

With the 2020 season getting postponed to the spring of 2021, Stodden sat back and watched as her new team pushed to make the 48-team NCAA Tournament field. But that drive to compete pushed her to a quicker recovery than most ACL injuries.

"When I tore my ACL, it was hard [on me]. I took a day and was sad about it but I knew I had a lot of work ahead of me. I did my pre-surgery workouts to make sure I was fit and ready. I had the surgery and then took about two weeks to allow myself to feel what I was feeling. I knew I had a long recovery ahead of me. From there on out I dedicated literally every day to my rehab."

Stodden went under the knife on Dec. 29, 2020, and was back practicing with the Buffs in the team's fall camp in August.

"I was working out four times a week which, is not necessarily recommended," Stodden joked. "I knew that lifting was what was going to get me through it. One of the mottos I put in my phone was 'win the day.' I just had to win that day and move on to the next. That was kind of how it was for a while. Towards the end, it got harder because I just wanted to be back out there. I just had to be patient."

Fast forward to the present.

Her patience paid off and almost eight months removed from surgery, Stodden got on the pitch for the first time as Buff. She saw 41 minutes of action in CU's 3-0 win over Colorado Mines.

"It felt so good and so rewarding," Stodden said about her return to action. "I felt like I was going a thousand miles per hour and I needed to calm down. That part was not great because I just felt like I was flying all over the place and could not relax, but I was just so happy to be out there playing. I'm still feeling it. I feel so lucky and grateful to be playing."

Stodden hasn't missed a beat since her return against Mines. She has appeared in nine games this season and recorded her first point as a Buff, assisting on Shyra James' goal against Stony Brook. Stodden is +4 in her 320 minutes this season, helping the defense secure shutouts against Colorado Mines and Stony Brook.

The Buffs return to the pitch on Sunday (Noon, Pac-12 Network), hosting Washington State.

Colorado University Athletics

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