When Ainsley Wheldon is on the pitch, she only has a split second to decide which way to go. Though the game comes naturally, some moments are filled with panic.
Sometimes she has to choose between a goal in the net or a cleat to the face.
Luckily for the Bulls, Wheldon is willing to take the cleat every time.
In a game during her high school career, Wheldon vividly remembers making that choice on one particular breakaway.
"I whacked my head and I lost sight in my left eye for a few hours," Wheldon said. "I fractured [my left eye] bone and the whole side of my face swelled up and I smiled like the Joker for about three days."
Wheldon's willingness to make the save by any means necessary is the facet of her game – and her personality – that got her from high school to Division-I soccer.
Early Promise
Wheldon started playing soccer when she was 9 as part of a rotation of several goalies in Waterloo, Ontario.
Despite her inexperience, Wheldon asked to try out for the travel program in her area. Her parents were surprised by the choice: the aspiring goalie didn't display much talent at an early age. But Wheldon knew that she could make the team if she played goalie.
The winter before her first season, Wheldon started training hard – while lacking natural ability, she had passion for the game. This passion paid off early: Wheldon was named Most Valuable Player at her first travel tournament.
Wheldon played with the Burlington Sting – a traveling club soccer team – for two years in high school, and backstopped the squad to a third place finish at the Canadian Nationals in 2008.
At 15, Wheldon became a full-time goalie. Her coach influenced the goalie to try for Division-I.
After a successful high school career, the competitive mentality of head coach Michael Thomas drew the budding goalie to Buffalo. Little did Thomas know that Buffalo was about to get a truly unique player between the pipes.
The Signature 'Do
In the early days of her soccer career, Wheldon decided to wear her hair in a mohawk – just one of several statements of individuality the young goalie would make. The unique hairdo eventually morphed into Wheldon's good luck charm.
While playing for a team with green jerseys from Kitchener, Ontario, Wheldon's teammates decided that the mohawk needed to be dyed green. Wheldon agreed.
On the rare occasions she left the net to play defense, headers would flatten the young keeper's defining 'do.
The mohawk and its symbolism followed the goalie through high school. Though Wheldon was labeled an outcast because she went against the norm, she always felt comfortable playing soccer.
"I refused to shop at places like Abercrombie and Hollister because I didn't want to have the same outfit as someone else," Wheldon said. "I didn't like doing what everyone else did because it's just not who I am. That made it really hard in high school and being able to focus on soccer and see where soccer can take me, and that helped me get through those four years."
Making her own decisions in high school made it tough for Wheldon to fit in with other students. She was picked on because she chose not to conform. But despite the teasing, Wheldon knew she could always turn to soccer.
"Other people just didn't see things the same way I did, and our opinions conflicted and it made it really difficult," Wheldon said. "People didn't understand me. People from high school see who I am today and respect the fact that I didn't follow the crowd, and I've achieved something as big as being a D-I soccer player."
Wheldon's family – her parents and her younger sister Cassie – supports her in all her life decisions. Kellie Wheldon, the goalie's mother, said that she has faith in both her girls to make the right decisions. Wheldon's mother even embraced Ainsley's constant hair changes.
"She was really trying to define herself and be an individual, and we admired her for that," Kellie Wheldon said. "If she feels it's defining her as a person, then you just got to let her do it."
Remembering to Forget
Wheldon's mother believes that her daughter's biggest strength is her ability to stay focused for an entire 90 minutes. She is able to put her mistakes behind her during the game.
But it was not always this way.
Wheldon believes that she is her own toughest critic while playing. When she was younger, her parents would keep a journal in the car so she could write down 10 things she did well and two things she could work on after every game or practice.
"I'm very critical of myself," Wheldon said. "I tend to overanalyze myself. But I always try to think about what I could have done to change the game. Yeah, it's a team sport, but I have a piece to do, and if I can do my piece better, then it makes the team better."
Wheldon has learned to move on from bad plays and focus on her next save. Kellie Wheldon said her daughter has a 24-hour rule. Wheldon refuses to over think the prior game – instead, she takes time to relax.
"I think it's a trait or what comes along with being a goalkeeper, is you are very critical," Kellie Wheldon said. "So we wanted her to be able to focus on the positives and not the negatives. As her coach has told her many times, goalkeepers need to have a short memory."
Saving the Program
It's game day for the Bulls. Sophomore goalkeeper Ainsley Wheldon goes through her list of rituals. She hops in the shower, brushes her teeth and then listens to some Chris Brown on her iPod. She puts her gloves on the shelf in her locker, and no matter what, she doesn't let them touch the floor. She puts her jersey on – it stays on until the game is over.
The team starts to dance in the locker room, and she shows off her signature move: the "Stanky Legg." The game is about to start, so she kicks each post three times.
Last game doesn't matter; last goal doesn't matter. Today, Ainsely Wheldon aims to be flawless.
The now-dominant goalie has the nation's ninth-best save percentage (90 percent), is tied for sixth in the nation with 108 saves, and has backstopped Buffalo to a 9-4-3 record this year.
Her choice to come to Buffalo to continue her soccer career was the biggest decision Wheldon has made to date. Soccer has helped her define the type of person she is. Over time, she was able to find where she belonged.
"I love the campus here, I love the program, and when I came on my visit, on my unofficial, it just felt right, it was the first time I visited a school and it felt like it was somewhere I was supposed to be," Wheldon said.
Wheldon's goal is to play professional soccer. However, she did not choose a big-name college. Rather, she took a harder road to get to the professional level.
"Buffalo wasn't a school that had much success and I knew that coming in if I worked hard, continued to develop, get better and perform for Buffalo, I knew I could be a big influence in turning [the program] around," Wheldon said.
Thomas believes that the extra year of experience is the main reason Ainsley has played so well this year. He went on to explain that she is very important to this season and the future of the program.
"We've tried to bring in a lot of people similar to Ainsley, people that love soccer, people that love to work, people that love to compete," Thomas said. "And if we have a team full of Ainsley Wheldons, we're going to have a team that represents the University at Buffalo very well in every way."
Wheldon will graduate with a degree in exercise science. If playing professional soccer does not work out, she would like to be a Division-I goalkeeper coach or an athletic trainer.
Until then, Wheldon will be kicking her goal posts, and Stanky-Legging Buffalo to continued success.
Email: sports@ubspectrum.com
Photo: Ryan Hagen | UB Athletics
Photo: Paul Hokanson / UB Athletics
