M. soccer: Captain comeback

After yet another shot, unexplainably, Lawson fell. And he knew
something was wrong.

“From the moment I injured myself I had the words going
through my head. … I knew more or less I wasn’t going to be
able to get right back up and play,” he said. “It hurt
… and to be honest, I was scared.”

After putting in intense work to gain a starting position as a
member of UCLA’s defense ““ what many ranking
publications consider to be one of the top five in the country
““ Lawson’s injury kept him off the field for nine
games. But Lawson’s role on the team expands far beyond the
field.

“Tony is our inspirational leader,” coach Tom
Fitzgerald said.

Recipient of the team’s Most Inspirational Award for two
consecutive years, Lawson shrugged when prompted to explain
why.

“I guess I have a knack for inciting in people something
with the words that I say,” he said.

Whatever those words are that his teammates hear in their
pre-game huddle, they work. The passion and energy that led the
squad to last year’s national championship are delivered by
the team’s co-captain and have hardly waned during the past
six weeks when Lawson’s role was relegated to the bench.

With his injury evaluated as an extremely severe hip flexor
strain, Lawson was immediately put on crutches and told it could be
weeks before he would be able to return. And as much as it hurt,
Lawson was needed off the field just as much as he was needed on
it.

“He brings a lot of leadership off the field,”
Fitzgerald said. “We’ve missed Tony the most on the
road, because we don’t take injured players. It did provide
an opportunity for other guys to step up and try to fill that role,
but to be honest, nobody does it like Tony.”

For the time being, however, Lawson finds himself in a position
he hasn’t been in for awhile: on the bench. He is part of an
experienced backline that has one national championship under its
belt, and entered this season along with teammates Leonard Griffin
and Zach Wells as seniors looking to play significant time in their
last season.

For the first six games, he did. But since mid-September,
Lawson’s injury has kept him off the field. Fellow senior Dru
Hoshimiya was moved from midfield to cover for him.

“You take Tony out of the mix and that’s a lot of
experience at sweeper (that’s lost),” Fitzgerald
said.

Now, nine games after the injury, Lawson is back. But the Bruins
are playing well ““ very well ““ and for now, Hoshimiya
will continue to play the sweeper position.

“I by no means expected for things to be waiting for me,
and I wouldn’t want that,” Lawson said.
“It’s important for the team to keep pushing forward
and getting stronger and stronger.”

His injury now healed, Lawson knows that though he might not be
starting, his role on the team is as important as ever. If the
Bruins want to continue to the College Cup again this year, the
team will need him as a leader, both on and off the field.

“I try to make us realize that it means something to wear
a jersey at UCLA,” he said. “Blood, sweat, and tears,
we go to battle and give it our all. Our attitude is the difference
between us and everyone else.”

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