Goalkeeper Aaron Utman is back on the field for The College of New Jersey after missing his junior season through injuries.
After sitting out all of last season due to injury, The College of New Jersey men’s soccer team goalkeeper Aaron Utman is more than happy to be back on the field.
He has sustained his fair share of injuries, but none have been more heartbreaking than the ones that plagued him before the start of the 2012 season. He underwent two shoulder surgeries and had wrist troubles as a member of the Hopewell Valley Central High School boys’ soccer team, but nothing had sidelined him during his college career until he injured his ankle during summer play with TCNJ last year.
When he came out of the goal mouth to clear the ball during a preseason game with the Lions, an opposing player kicked Utman’s ankle. The kick caused a sprain in two places. Utman was out for a month but was able to return to the pitch a few days into the preseason. Later that week, though, he rolled the same ankle and was out until mid-October, about a couple of weeks before the season wrapped up.
“It was definitely disappointing,” he said. “I’ve unfortunately had a lot of injuries in the past, so I’ve kind of been used to it. To train all summer to play on a team that ended up in the championship game and to get hurt in that last game right before preseason was really disappointing, especially because I was excited to come out and play.”
The rehab process began pretty quickly. The initial injury happened off-campus, so Utman wasn’t able to seek immediate attention from the TCNJ athletic training staff, whom he calls “really great” and “extremely supportive.”
Instead, he saw Dr. Michael Duch from Trenton Orthopedic Group, who had treated him multiple times in high school.
“It was pretty intense,” the fifth-year senior said. “At first I was doing just basic stuff like icing and some minimal stretching. Once I got on campus, I started working with the staff here.”
That’s when the routine became much more aggressive. In addition to icing and stretching, Utman began recieving electric stimulation to bring down the swelling. The training staff oversaw exercises, soccer activities, and taping, and the process continued even after Utman was back on the field.
“They had me doing everything,” he said.
After about a month, though, things went sour again.
“Even though I was still taped, my ankle just kind of gave out when I was jumping,” he said. “That just started the process all over again. Throughout the whole season, I was going through the same regimen.”
That kind of setback might drive other athletes off the field for good. Not Utman. Hopewell head boys’ soccer coach Ed Gola that’s all part of the keeper’s makeup.
“He’s just a strong competitor,” Gola said. “He loves the game. Just the fact that he’s coming back this year because he loves playing soccer shows the type of resilience he has, how much passion he has, and how much he loves to compete.”
Utman’s past experience with injury recovery is what got him through his most recent complication.
“I know that they’ll eventually get better,” he said. “If you play at any level, you’re going to have injuries. It’s really something you can’t avoid. For me, when I get injured, I just really try to focus my attention on the team and trying to help other guys, the other goalkeepers, and everyone on the field.”
He said he was able to adopt a player-coach role, which gave him a new perspective on the game that he was able to carry over into this season.
“I got to know our players better just by watching them,” he said. “It’s amazing how much you can learn just by watching the game, especially watching your own team day in and day out. I think that’s allowed me to learn a lot about our individual players, how they like to play and how we play as a group.”
This role is natural for a keeper like Utman, Gola said.
“You have your own responsibilities, but you see plays develop,” he said. “That definitely helps him along with the fact that he has always been a leader on the field. I think he’s well-respected. I think the fact that he continues to work are and keeps going on the field, people respect that.”
Utman continued to work during the offseason and is currently sharing duties on the field with fellow keeper Maciej Libucha. He has yet to surrender a goal.
Gola has seen Utman play with the Lions, and it’s no surprise to him that he found success.
“He’s athletically talented,” Gola said. “He’s big. He can move side to side, and he’s very strong in the air. Just his drive makes him successful. He just keeps going out there.”
Utman, who transferred to TCNJ from the University of Hartford—where he redshirted—is just glad to be strapping on his gloves again.
“To be able to come back for the fall semester, and to be able to play and try to just give anything I can to our program, it’s a unique experience,” he said. “I’m definitely really fortunate.”
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