Maxwell lost to knee injury
■ Siloam Springs’ star forward suffered an ACL tear on Jan. 20.
Audrey Maxwell’s soccer career at Siloam Springs has come to an end.
The recordbreaking forward for the four-time defending state champion Lady Panthers tore the ACL in her right knee on Jan. 20 while playing with her club team and will miss her senior season.
Maxwell, a junior in 2017, set a single-season program-record with 42 goals scored and led the Lady Panthers to a 24-3 record, including three goals in Siloam Springs’ 6-1 victory over Russellville in the Class 6A state championship match. She also had 18 assists.
Maxwell received multiple awards for her standout season, including all-state honors in Class 6A and being named the Girls Soccer Player of the Year for the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
“Obviously, you can’t replace somebody like that,” said Siloam Springs coach Brent Crenshaw. “She’s a great player with a great work ethic — a great leader. It was tough on our girls last week, and we wish the best for her.”
Maxwell is scheduled to have reconstructive surgery on the knee on Feb. 8, the day after she signs a letter of intent to play soccer at Rogers State in Claremore, Okla., on Feb. 7.
Maxwell said she has spoken with Rogers State coach Yolanda Thomas, who reassured Maxwell that her scholarship is not in jeopardy.
“The coach actually tore her
ACL her senior year, too,” Maxwell said. “She said, ‘Don’t worry about it. We’ll take care of you.’”
The injury occurred at Burns Park in North Little Rock where Maxwell was playing in a showcase tournament with her club team, the Arkansas Comets.
She said was receiving a pass with her left foot and her right foot planted in the grass. As she corralled the ball, a defender came from behind her and clipped her right knee.
Maxwell had an MRI last week and results showed that the ACL was torn.
“The first day, I cried,” Maxwell said. “Then I saw that I had a lot of support — my team, my church and all around the community, texting me and encouraging me. I realized it could be a lot worse than an ACL and I can get back in six months. It stinks that it’s my senior season, but it could have been worse timing.”
Maxwell said the hardest part about missing her senior year will be the realization of not being able to play with the group of girls she’s won the previous three state titles with.
“I think that was the saddest part about it,” she said, “because I know I’ll get to play again, but with this group of girls I might not get the chance again.”
Even without Maxwell, the Lady Panthers figure to be among the top teams in Class 6A. Maxwell’s teammates, forward/ midfielder Megan Hutto (Northeastern State), midfielder Brooklyn Buckminster (Rogers State), center defender Meghan Kennedy (John Brown) and midfielder Megan Rush (Neosho) are all signing on Feb. 7 as well.
“Adversity makes us stronger — it does,” Crenshaw said. “That’s life. Things don’t always go as planned, and we’ve got to move on. She’s still part of our team. We have to plan for what we do have, and what we do have are great kids and great players. … There’s a challenge in front of us now, and we know what we have to do.”