Despite injury, Peart leaves her mark on Aggie record books
Leaving her mark on the USU soccer record books in at least eight different categories, Dana Peart has established a legacy, establishing herself as one of the Aggie soccer greats.
But starts, goals and shots on goal aside, the legacy Peart said she wants to leave behind is as an inspiration to future players.
“I hope that they can remember me as a player that’s a great leader,” she said. “I hope they can look at me and think, ‘Oh, she was a great player, a great leader, she inspired me in some way,’ whether something small that they struggle with and saw that I had that strength. Just a leader and that I inspired them in some way, hopefully a good way.”
Inspiration is exactly what USU soccer head coach Heather Cairns said has made Peart a successful team captain this season, leading the Aggies to tie the season-best wins at 10 and into the semi-finals of the WAC Tournament.
“Dana is very much a leader on the field, very emotional,” Cairns said. “She’s quick. She takes accountability for the attack, and that rubs off on her teammates.”
After standing out in her freshman and sophomore seasons and following a successful 2006 season, where Peart was third on the team with eight points and led the team in game-winning goals, Peart said she was not surprised she was selected as team captain – a role she said she was familiar and comfortable with.
“I wasn’t really surprised because I think I’ve always been kind of a leader on previous teams I’ve been on, so I think coming into my senior year I wanted to step up into that role,” Peart said. “I knew Shannon (Ross) was a leader, but I wanted to help her out with that. So I wasn’t surprised, and I really have enjoyed being a leader for the team.”
But early losses and a team with many new players presented challenges for Peart and the USU soccer team as the Aggies went 4-8 in their non-conference schedule. Peart said during this time, it was important for her and the other upperclassmen to set a positive example and pull the team through the difficult times.
“Sometimes it was harder with (losing), with the younger players looking up to us,” Peart said. “It’s kind of a struggle, but our team’s very good at staying positive and being very enthusiastic and optimistic. So the whole team helped as a whole at staying positive. As a leader, staying positive, but also the whole team jumped on the wagon.
“I think we struggled at the first, but all of us pushed through it, and now amazing things are happening and we’ve all kind seen kind of our end goal, what we want, and we’re all pushing for it. If we didn’t struggle at the beginning, I don’t think we would be where we are now.”
Early on in the season, Peart led the team in points, scoring, shots on goal and shots, establishing herself as the clear leader in the offensive attack. She was poised to break multiple school scoring records and was a scoring and points leader in the conference. With momentum behind her and a limited amount of games remaining in her USU career, Peart was set to be a dangerous threat in conference play.
But that never happened.
Midway through the second conference game of the season against Boise State, Peart took a hard fall and limped off the field. After multiple diagnoses, it was determined she had torn her PCL, an injury that doesn’t require surgery but mandated rehabilitation and time off. The injury couldn’t have come at a worse time – right when the Aggies were in the thick of the most important part of the season and looking to claim the regular season championship.
“It was a bit frustrating,” Peart said of her injury. “You get into conference, and that’s what you work your butt off all season to get to these conference games, and when you can’t play in them it’s difficult, and definitely emotional. Being on the bench and watching the team, I could still be a leader on the bench, getting the team going. I’m still satisfied. I’m satisfied watching the team improving and stepping up.”
When the injury happened, Peart said, “I was thinking, ‘OK, it’s going to be short, I’m going to be able to come right back on.’ When that didn’t happen, it was frustrating but also, being out and watching the team develop, and people started stepping up. It wasn’t one or two people, the whole team stepped up, and we’ve been doing great things. Looking at that, yeah, I made points at the beginning, but it’s not just one player. You look from the bench and the whole team’s there and working together.”
Even without their leading scorer constantly on the field, the Aggies won four of the five remaining conference games, showing marked improvement from the slow start.
Peart sat out four conference games, an experience she said taught her a lot about her teammates.
“I have never had an injury before, so I played four years without an injury and it really made me take a step back and look at all the players, because people have had injuries and you tell them, ‘I’m sorry, keep pushing through it,’ but you don’t know what it really feels like until you’re actually there,” Peart said. “So I think I really learned a lot more about how other players are feeling, more than myself. I learned more of other players and how they feel in that position. I don’t know how I felt. It’s just been hard.”
When Peart did return, she played considerably fewer minutes than usual and fought to work past an injury that limited her rapid movement. Near the end of the season, going into tournament play, Peart said she wore a knee brace to protect her leg, but the brace stifled much of her usual fast attack.
Even with the injury, Peart still led the Aggies in shots and shots on goal for the season and finished third in goals and points. She also placed seventh in the WAC for shots per game with a 2.56 average, firing off 46 on the season.
Peart ended her career as an Aggie with eight USU records, including placing first in matches started and tying for first in matches played with former teammate Sierra Smith. She placed fifth in career points at 37, career goals at 15 – passing former teammate and Aggie standout Charity Weston – and fourth place in career shots on goal with 71.
“I’ve had a good season and the team as a whole has had a great season, so I feel like it’s been very satisfying, and I’ve accomplished a lot and so has the team. I think it’s been a great feeling and exciting,” Peart said.
-seth.h@aggiemail.usu.edu