Navy's Paul played despite spate of injuries
I got a chance to talk to Navy senior attackman Tim Paul, who tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in Saturday's 8-7 overtime loss to No. 10 Loyola. Paul, a Parkton native and Loyola graduate, will miss the remainder of the season.
There will be more in Friday's edition about Paul's involvement with the No. 11 Midshipmen, but one thing that struck me was Paul's confirmation of coach Richie Meade's revelation that Paul has played the last two seasons despite a variety of injuries.
Paul has been plagued by a chronic shoulder problem, and he severely sprained his left ankle that forced him to miss two games. And in addition to the torn knee ligament, Paul has been dealing with a twisted sacrum in his lower back that made it difficult for him to rotate his hips and fire a shot.
"It’s really affected my play," said Paul, who has required two injections into his spine to play through the pain and is scheduled to undergo a bone scan to further define the injury. "I haven’t been the same shooter. I still consider myself a good shooter, but at the same time, I’ve lost a considerable amount of velocity, and it was pretty painful to go out to practice on numerous occasions. But it’s college athletics, and everyone’s playing hurt, everyone’s playing through injuries."
Paul had been Navy's top returning scorer from a year ago, registering 18 goals and 14 assists. His presence, along with that of fellow attackman Brendan Connors (21 goals and 10 assists) and Andy Warner (13, 14) and midfielders Patrick Moran (20, 3), Joe Lennon (14, 9) and Nikk Davis (3, 5), had given Midshipmen supporters plenty of optimism for the upcoming season.
Paul is expected to be replaced by sophomore Ryan O'Leary, who was given a vote of confidence by Paul.
"Ryan’s a very dynamic player," Paul said. "I guess the word that would best describe him is slippery. He’s very agile, very fast. He can change direction on a dime, a very talented shooter, not afraid to stick his nose in there and take a hit, or take the extra step and score. Ryan has a bright future. If he takes advantage of this opportunity, Ryan could really have his career take off the way mine did during my freshman year."
