During a rainy 2003 match versus Duke, then-freshman Megan Buescher raised up for a header, as is typical with her style of play as a starting defender. But it was on this play she suffered her first separated shoulder. It would be the first of multiple such instances in her career.
Three years and several right shoulder pops later, doctors concluded that Buescher, a senior, needed surgery to repair the damage that had accumulated since her freshman year.
Having surgery immediately meant Buescher would be put out of commission for about four months, including part of this season, her last at N.C. State.
Forget it. Buescher had only missed two starts in her career at State and didn’t plan on starting a new trend now. With every game, she inches ever closer to the end of her tenure and also to shoulder surgery she has postponed until season’s end.
“She’s obviously had some shoulder pain the whole time she’s been here, and her doctor said at some point she would need shoulder surgery,” coach Laura Kerrigan said.
“She has said, ‘I’m not going to have shoulder surgery while I’m playing here because I do not want to sit out,’ … she’s been very adamant that she will play with pain if it means that she gets to play.”
Not just being able to play, but being able to play with her fellow seniors one last season is another reason why Buescher said she wouldn’t consider missing any time this year.
So for the duration of this season, she is still on the field, playing with a chemistry she and her teammates have developed over time.
Defenders Nicole Mayo and Michelle Massey, along with goalkeeper Megan Connors, join Buescher to form a senior back line of defense as experienced as any in the country.
“We’re a really close unit, this year especially,” Buescher said. “We can almost read each other without having to say anything. On the field and off the field we’re really close because we’re always together.”
In the team’s 11 games, it has allowed two or fewer goals nine times, including six shutouts.
“We’re really lucky to have been able to play together for four years because that helps a lot,” Buescher said.
Before her injury, Buescher was the team’s throw-in specialist, even getting assists by launching the ball far into the field of play.
“Everybody knows that she’s hurting, and she can’t do throw-ins this year like she did in the past,” Massey said. “But at least we can have her on the field, and it’s better to have her on the field not doing throw-ins than not have her at all.”
Unable to risk doing so anymore, Buescher now leads the way vocally on the back line, something Kerrigan said she has improved on significantly.
“Because she plays in the center of our back four, she has to be vocal on a lot of things,” Mayo said. “Every game she goes out and she clears the ball she needs to clear off the line and heads out the ball that needs to be headed out.”
Because she is the tallest of the defenders, Buescher is able to head balls out of her area that other players cannot reach, and she can also block shots more easily than others.
“She’s been really dominant in the air,” Kerrigan said. “She’s done a really good job for us in winning a lot of balls.”
Buescher still goes for headers, despite it being the same way she was originally injured, and the shoulder separations still happen. But Buescher said she has become somewhat accustomed to the pain while playing.
“It’s come out before while I was playing,” Buescher said. “The first time I did it, it was horrible — now I can put it back in myself.”
After four years of playing with an injury, in what some consider the toughest conference in the nation for women’s soccer, the leadership factor has transcended from leading on the field to leading by example as she continues to play through injury.
“Megan’s always been a great leader on the field, and showing perseverance through her injuries is a big inspiration to everybody,” Massey said. “Everybody has a greater appreciation of her because of that.”