Oct. 18, 2004

Nick Dettmann UWM Post

MILWAUKEE, Wisc. (U-WIRE) -- Typically after a victory, there is much rejoicing, cheering, hugging, high-fives and smiling faces up and down the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's soccer team bench. But on Friday, Oct. 15, those same faces were somber and in disbelief after what had happened in the 79th minute.

Senior forward Cliff Ellsworth, who earlier in the game assisted on Antou Jallow's goal that tied the score at one, suffered a devastating knee injury on a play that some have said was the worst play anyone has ever seen in their long association with soccer. And it is a knee injury that fears to have altered or even ended Ellsworth's playing days - changing his life completely.

Ellsworth was taken off the field and immediately taken to the hospital where it was discovered that he had ruptured his patellar tendon, or patellar ligament, in his left knee. The patellar ligament works as a knee extensor mechanism, which aids in knee extension and a kicking motion.The injury, sometimes considered worse than an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear, most often occurs when a person lands on a partially bent knee. The quadriceps muscle group contracts when the knee is partially bent, weakening the strength of the ligament, therefore, it cannot withstand the force of impact and the ligament ruptures.

"I'd say it's a very difficult injury," said Dave Schober, a physical therapist at the Aurora Sports Medicine Institute. "With an ACL injury, they are able to get a very solid fixation. Here we're interrupting a tendon, when we stand on your knee or on your feet, there's a force on that tendon. "With this injury, you have to have a period of immobilization and limited non-weight bearing. With an ACL injury, once repair is complete, you can begin weight-bearing the first day. What those two structures do are completely different."

Normally, the injury occurs in middle-aged non-athlete adults performing non-athletic activities, such as tripping over a stair. But it is not as common among highly-active adults, or athletes. "It's not common like an ankle sprain or medical collateral ligament (MCL) sprain in your knee," Schober said. "But, it's not rare by any means. "Personally, I've only seen it twice with athletes. It can be a contact or non-contact injury.More recently, I've seen more non-contact injuries."

The play started when defender Trent Furtsch held the ball in UWM's own end and was ready to lead a play up field. Ellsworth, who was on the left wing for UWM, saw an opening and began to streak along the left sideline.As Ellsworth passed in front of the UWM bench, Wright State's Troy Azuogu took down Ellsworth in very physical fashion, sending Ellsworth flailing his arms in the air and landing hard on the ground. Once he hit the ground, everyone knew something was wrong - except the officials.Furtsch had sent the ball towards the right side of the field and the officials followed the path of play.

The only ones to see it were the UWM coaches and fans. Azuogu was issued a yellow card on the play, but according to a source close to the team, it was a play that certainly condoned an automatic ejection, or a red card. The UWM coaching staff is highly considering filing a complaint against Azuogu to the NCAA about the play, according to a source close to the team. The coaching staff is in the progress of gathering video evidence in order to make their claim of unnecessary violent play.

Ellsworth, who is scheduled to graduate with a degree in art history at the end of the school year, has aspirations to continue his soccer playing days at the professional level either in Europe or in the U.S.But with the injury, which takes at least one full year to rehabilitate, his future is highly in question.

"Initially there's a period of immobilization and during that period, you're working on maintaining condition of the body and all the other body parts as well as cardiovascular fitness through exercise," Schober said. "Once the surgeon allows for therapy to formally begin, you work within those guidelines. "Initially, working on range of motion, gradually increase low-grade strengthening exercise. But you keep the athlete very busy and then it just progresses along."

(C) 2004 UWM Post via U-WIRE