Patience has been a key for Jill Medvecky throughout her high school career as one of The News-Herald coverage area’s top goalkeepers.
The Mentor junior wasn’t sure what soccer held for her as she battled injury through her freshman and sophomore campaigns.
And this fall, the Cardinals haven’t been able to get their starting 11 on the pitch healthy with regularity.
Thankfully for Medvecky and her side, that patience finally paid off Sept. 28. She logged a 15-save clean sheet as Mentor recorded a 4-0 win over visiting Solon.
In many facets, it might be the best result of the fall for the Cardinals, who are 5-5-4 following a 5-0 victory Oct. 5 over Euclid.
News-Herald players of the week for Oct. 5
"Oh yeah, definitely," Medvecky said of whether the Solon win was her side's most complete result of the season. "I think that we were put together. We've had a few injuries, and we got those players back. So that was huge. But yeah, I think it was definitely our most complete game of the season.
"(Gaining consistency amid injuries) has definitely been difficult, and I think that's been proven with some of our games. The scores, I don't think they all went our way mainly because of that. Putting a starting lineup together, when you have so many people out, it was definitely good to have a really solid starting lineup and have so many people back."
A 15-save match is a high-volume clean sheet to be sure, which has its positives and negatives as a goalkeeper as opposed to more typical matches that run around four-to-six saves.
"I love the games like Solon where it's just constant shots and you have to stay on your toes and mentally ready, because if you mess up one time, then the whole way of the game changes," Medvecky said. "But I think the three- or four-shot games, where you have to make all four of them, are a little tougher. Sometimes, you kind of lose it mentally, and it can be difficult to get back into it with the three or four shots you have to save."
In addition to the side's development, Medvecky has a key development of her own last month, as she announced her commitment to play Division I college soccer at Xavier. Recent years have featured a trend of more college-caliber performers forgoing high school soccer in the fall for year-round club, but Medvecky continues to see benefit in featuring for the Cardinals.
"I was talking to a few other schools, but Xavier just seemed the most like family and the most like I could be successful there," Medvecky said. "Obviously, the coaching staff are great. But that's not the one reason why I chose the school. That played a significant role. But just being with the team, watching games, I felt like it could be my family, my home away from home.
"For me, I think playing for something like my school, it gives me that sense that I'm playing for something bigger than myself."
By her own admission, Medvecky didn't initially envision the opportunity to play college soccer, because staying consistently healthy wasn't coming to pass. But in the end, her patience has paid off in more ways than one.
"I actually had a major back injury my freshman and sophomore year that I was playing through," Medvecky said. "So I didn't see myself playing another season of soccer honestly at many points and not being a Division I recruit. It was always my dream, but I never really saw it becoming a reality.
"When I ended the phone call, I was super excited. I thought about those past two years and how it actually all came true."
