Raised with a soccer ball at her feet, Isabel Neyman wasn’t going to let three ACL tears prevent her from her goal of being a Division-I soccer player.

Neyman, now a redshirt senior midfielder for the Washington State women’s soccer team, suffered her first tear – right knee – in ninth grade, forcing her to quit basketball. She joined cross-country to keep her conditioning up and allow her to continue playing soccer. She re-tore her right knee’s ACL in her junior year of high school, making colleges wary of her future.

Minnesota State University Moorhead offered her a scholarship and Neyman accepted the challenge. She was named Dragon Freshman of the Year after starting 10 of 13 games and recording an assist. Neyman built on her success and was named team captain her sophomore year, starting in all 17 matches and scoring five goals.

But the challenge of Division-II talent wasn’t living up to what she embarked on. Neyman turned back to her original goal of playing at the highest collegiate soccer level. She elected to transfer to WSU and try out for the Cougar women’s soccer team in February 2013.

“It was really nerve-wracking,” Neyman said. “I went to talk to the coach, Keidane [McAlpine] at the time … It was a week. The first day of tryouts he cut a lot of girls, so he let you know as the day progressed if you had a bad day maybe one day you could be out.”

McAlpine called Neyman that Friday after tryouts had concluded and informed her she had achieved her goal of becoming a Division-I soccer player. Neyman’s first call was to her mother, who never doubted her ability to achieve her goal.

“I was really proud she had that goal and she was brave enough to make it happen,” said Susan Neyman, Isabel’s mother. “Walking on, the chances were slim, but she did it. I was just proud she did it.”

But just as Neyman was enjoying making the team, she suffered yet another setback. Three days later she tore her left ACL, forcing her to spend her first months as a Coug rehabilitating and, as a result, redshirting her junior year.

After winning the “Coug Award” last year despite appearing in just one match, Neyman entered the 2015 campaign 100 percent healthy and with a new view of her role under Head Coach Todd Shulenberger. Both Isabel and her mother acknowledged that she leads by example. Shulenberger used a unique analogy to convey the same message.

“She’s like Rudy back in the day,” Shulenberger said Tuesday. “If there is one kid I can tell you out of this 28 that every day is going to have a smile on her face and going to work hard no matter if she is playing or not is Issy. She just does her thing and I know and appreciate that and those are young ladies you need on your team.”

Failure is something Neyman has never accepted. She set out to play college soccer at the highest level and her presence, both in practice and her limited game minutes, has been reflective of her character.

“She’s a go-getter,” Shulenberger said. “Anybody who would show up [at practice] would never know she’s had minimal minutes from time to time. The kid just doesn’t stop. She leads by example. She’s a kid you can count on every day. You know she’s going to show up.”