Elizabeth Hudon

Oh, and she did this all while balancing time on the soccer field with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s team.

“It’s not too bad,” said Hudon of the time commitment to both school and the team. “It keeps me out of trouble.”

The fifth-year Huskies soccer star graduated last year with a kinesiology degree and is now in the College of Education. She holds nearly every record in the Huskies women’s soccer record book including most points, most goals and most shots, and can be found atop many of the Canada West conference’s leaderboards.

Her 36 career goals are the most amongst any current and former Canada West player and her 42 points are fourth on the conference’s all-time list. She also has the most career shots at 222 and the most points by any player in one half — she scored five in one half last year against the Lethbridge Pronghorns.

She was a Canada West first team all-star last year, a second team all-star in 2008-09 and the Huskie Athletics female rookie of the year in 2007-08.

“It will probably take another 25 years before somebody breaks her records,” said Huskies head coach Tom LaPointe. “It’s a compliment to her abilities… that each year we get better, her goal totals go up.”

“A lot of times I get the glory, but it’s other girls who are actually doing the work and who are stepping up,” said Hudon, having nothing but praise for all her teammates throughout the years.

Hudon’s teammates are what brought her to the Huskies five years ago and are what have kept her there since then.

“I knew some of the girls on the team and I’m really quite a homebody,” said Hudon, whose hometown is Prince Albert, on choosing Huskie Athletics. “Getting to know my teammates over the years, a lot of them are [now] my best friends.”

Surprisingly, however, Hudon is quiet in the locker room.

“She actually likes to shy away from the limelight and is not the type to give a pep talk,” said LaPointe. “She just does her thing on the field.”

Of course, that doesn’t stop her from taking part in initiating the team’s rookies.

“The rookies are fun,” said Hudon with a smile, not elaborating on any details of the initiation.

She would only admit that the newest team members had already been welcomed to the team.

“We did that already,” joked Hudon.

Now, with the preseason rituals out of the way, Hudon wants to finish her historic career with the Dogs by accomplishing what no Huskies women’s soccer team has done before — qualifying for a Canada West playoff spot.

“Last year was our closest yet,” she said, “but we’re looking to step it up this year and make it happen.”

The Huskies were only one win away from a playoff spot last year and are looking to improve upon that in 2011.

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photo: Raisa Pezderic/The Sheaf