The Iowa State soccer season officially kicked off on Friday, when the Cyclones started the season against the Creighton Blue Jays.

However, the team is playing their first games of the season without third-year starting goalie, Lindsey Hendon.

Hendon, a Lakewood, Colorado native, finished the 2016 season with a school record of 10 shutouts as a net minder, proving to be a valuable piece to a team that nearly went to the NCAA Tournament.

“She was such a solid player in goal last year,” head coach Tony Minatta said. “She’s a senior and a leader.”

In February, Hendon tore her ACL and knew she would be spending her summer rehabilitating.

“I feel like I’m progressing really well – taking it one day at a time, and getting better,” Hendon said. “I’m working with my trainer and the coaches just trying to do as much as I can. I’m still close, working off the field with the team, trying to get a different perspective when I’m not playing. I just need to get better every day.”

Today, six months later, Hendon’s road to recovery is almost complete.

“Hendon is getting stronger every day,” Minatta said a week before the season started. “They said she was 75 percent. I think she might already be 80-85 percent.”

Usually a torn ACL would sideline an athlete for close to a year, although Hendon will be back much sooner than that.

“If she’s a field player, we’re not discussing this right now,” coach Tony Minatta said. “But, being in goal, you’re not expected to turn and sprint and cut and do those things.”

Because of the way Hendon plays her position, she could return to the field as early as September.

“Her game is really about positioning herself in the goal,” Minatta said. “She’s not the type of keeper that’s going to get that diving save in the goal. I think we’ll be in a good place within a month or so.”

Hendon said that the battle to get back on the field has been hard work. 

“It’s a little bit frustrating when you have an injury because there are going to be a lot of days when you are in pain,” Hendon said. “You can only do as much as you can and you just have to slowly progress to get up to a point. But I feel a lot better now. I’m starting to get into soccer stuff and that’s a big step for me.”

Behind Hendon is a freshman and sophomore that are battling to keep the seat warm before the senior’s return.

“The battle between Antonia [Reyes] and Dayja [Schwichtenberg] is something we have never seen before,” Minatta said. “If we can get through a couple weeks with those two, and when Hendon gets back she’s coming back and leading the team.”