BYU soccer: Cougs' Willis has found a home as team's top defender

PROVO — She might not play the most alluring position on the soccer pitch. She's not a forward who gets all the glory for knocking in the score. She's not a goalie, who gets credit for stopping the other team's shots. But Andrea Willis has been BYU's superstar all season long. And it's a well-deserved honor.

Willis is a defender, but she's not just any defender. She was named to the watchlist for the Hermann Trophy, soccer's biggest reward. And she was named Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year for the second year in a row. Today at noon she'll be leading the Cougars in the MWC championship game against San Diego State at South Field in Provo.

But the best defender in the MWC didn't start out that way at all.

When she was eight years old, she begged her mom to let her play soccer, and she started as a forward. She loved it, but for some reason she was progressively moved back one step at a time and wound up on the defensive end of the field a few years ago. She wasn't so sure about that as it was happening, but the position has grown on her long-term.

"I love it now. It's one of the best positions on the field. When I'm playing defense, I get to attack from the back," said Willis of the position she not only made her own but has nearly perfected over the years.

But there's one more reason she loves playing in the backfield.

"I love tackling," she said. "I just love to be physical."

When Willis walks onto a soccer field, watch out. Her entire personality changes, and the competitive streak kicks in. She considers herself an incredibly competitive person once her feet touch the pitch. But overall, she's pretty mellow and competition doesn't enter into her regular life.

And though she didn't really plan to come to BYU, as she hadn't heard anything from them during her recruiting process, she was a little shocked when BYU coach Jennifer Rockwood made a visit to her house, and she came to visit the campus unofficially.

Once she got to know what the experience was like at BYU, she said it just felt right, and she signed with the MWC champion Cougars, who are a nationally, noticed program most every year.

But before she could even set foot on the pitch for BYU, Willis found herself sitting on the sidelines with her worst nightmare — a torn ACL.

"Sitting on the sidelines was hard, but the team's camaraderie helped, and I could cheer for them. It's a different type of nerve-wracking. You have no control (when you can't play)," Willis noted.

And even her torn ACL recovery didn't go easily, as she had just made it back from the ACL injury when a couple of months later, she tore more cartilage in the same knee. Things were looking pretty bleak back then, as she had to go through more rehabilitation.