The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Rodin shakes off knee scare, plays pivotal role for Kirtland
And to think, it almost didn’t come to pass.
One day last month, Lidia Rodin sat in a doctor’s office.
The Kirtland standout junior midfielder feared the worst, that the prognosis she was about to hear was four words for which no athlete ever wants to be on the receiving end – torn anterior cruciate ligament.
Those brief moments of doubt have undoubtedly made what has occurred since even more meaningful.
As Rodin basked in her match-winning goal Nov. 6 in a 1-0 win over Archbold in a Division III state semifinal at Sandusky, it was justified to think back to that moment when she feared her season was over.
But thankfully for her – and for the Hornets – it was not.
The ride continues to the D-III state final at MAPFRE Stadium in Columbus at 1 p.m. Nov. 9 against Cincinnati Country Day, in pursuit of the program’s first state title.
“If you would have told me that I would still be playing now, I don’t know – I probably would have just started crying,” Rodin said. “I wouldn’t have believed you. So to be here and to be scoring big goals, and play in this tournament so far, it’s so special. I don’t even know how to describe it.
“I’m just thankful to be there.”
And not in a warmup on the bench, unable to contribute to such a memorable time for her community.
Late in the regular season, Rodin suffered a right knee injury.
Initial fears were the injury might be a torn right ACL.
But after a doctor’s visit, Rodin was diagnosed instead with a sprained medial collateral ligament.
She rested her knee for a couple matches and returned in time for the Hornets’ postseason charge.
“Oh my gosh,” Rodin said after a D-III district semifinal win over Beachwood. “I actually cried in the doctor’s office. I thought for sure that my season would be over. But I’m so lucky and just blessed to be out here doing what I love with the people that I love.”
Rodin has 10 goals and 14 assists this fall for the twotime D-III state finalist Hornets. She is a versatile performer who can log quality minutes virtually anywhere in the starting 11 for Coach Ed Bradac. Her best work comes in central midfield, but Rodin can also be a threat as an outside mid, defend as a stopper supporting sweeper Emily Ungrady or play up top as a target striker with her size.
She has scored two enormous goals during Kirtland’s postseason charge in 2018, both eerily similar in sequence and impression.
In that aforementioned 3-0 win over Beachwood, the Hornets had a corner kick in the first half. Maya Zovko and Rodin made eye contact, realizing a short corner was in order. So instead of serving into the box, Zovko played on the ground for Rodin a few yards away.
Rodin took one dribble in and uncorked a left-footed bender from distance upper-90 during a sublime opening 40 for the host side.
When Zovko was tackled on the right edge of her offensive third in the state semifinal win over Archbold, the spot at which the free kick was awarded was in the general immediate vicinity of where Rodin took the strike against the Bison.
Just a few yards away from the edge of the box, it seemed like destiny in some form. And when a leftfooted in-swinger found the back of the net in similar fashion, it essentially was.
“Listen, that’s on Lidia 100 percent,” Bradac said. “And what I’ll say is she had – and she would probably tell you this: She had one of her worst games (in a 3-2 regional final win over Doylestown Chippewa).
“And then, for her to come out and score that game-winning goal, I could not be any happier for her.”
With the wind, roaring in west to east and swirling, Rodin’s free kick could easily have been lost. But perfectly judged on the strike, it was not lost at all.
In fact, like her season, there’s more chapters left to write not lost on the sideline.
“The wind, it can help and it can hurt you,” Rodin said.
“In this case, it helped me.”
And to think, it almost didn’t come to pass.