Defying odds – not what most people who fracture vertebrae after crashing on a snowboard are able to do, especially as a college athlete who runs more than most and has to be aggressive with other players for a 90-minute soccer game. But that's exactly what Summer Taube did.
 
Cowgirl soccer is lucky to have a valuable player back for the 2017 season after the odds she faced. Taube, a redshirt sophomore and defensive midfielder, returned this year stronger than ever after a severe back injury prevented her from playing in 2016
 
Taube was snowboarding at Snowy Range Ski Area right before the end of winter break in 2016 when a nasty fall fractured vertebrae in her back.
 
"I ended up fracturing a bunch of my vertebrae and had to be rushed off the mountain," Taube said. "I had to be in the hospital for a week and then I was released, but then I was in a back brace for three months so there's no activity there."
 
Head coach Pete Cuadrado described the news as frightening when he found out. At the time he was in Sydney, Australia, recruiting when he got the email.
 
"It was frightening because you feel helpless. I'm on the other side of the planet and I can't do a whole lot," Cuadrado said. "The first thing I was told is that she'll probably never walk again."
 
Those who know Taube knew better, though. Cuadrado described Taube as someone who will prove you wrong every time. She got through all of her surgeries and then faced the question of ever being able to play soccer again. Again, no one who knew her doubted that she would.  
 
"She's just awesome. She's smiling and always a positive person. I'm sure she has bad days, but I haven't been around it yet," Cuadrado said. "I have nothing but amazing respect for her for what she's gone through and come out of. She's always defying the odds."
 
When Taube came back and started to look like she would be able to play again, people wondered if she would ever be at the same level as before her injury. Taube again exceeded expectations.
 
Once out of the back brace, the road to recovery was still a long journey. Taube endured an entire year of physical therapy before being able to rejoin her teammates on the field.
 
Taube returned to training last fall, but the physical demands of competition kept her sidelined for the 2016 season.
 
"It was really hard watching everyone have fun and I was just doing sprints," Taube said.
 
Though not fully participating, Taube said she was able to get more soccer knowledge during her time off.
 
"You still learn about what you should do in certain situations even while you're sitting out, so I got a whole season of watching everybody else and being able to absorb the game from a different point of view which was really nice," Taube said.
 
The transition from practicing to suiting up again wasn't as hard of a transition for Taube as most, including her coaches and doctors, predicted. After a year of conditioning, Taube had no problem keeping up with the pace of the game. Her only concern was regaining her skill level from before the injury. Returning to the field in time for the spring exhibition season allowed her to ease back into Division-I competition.
 
"It wasn't so much that I was out of shape for it, it was more that even in a year you lose a lot of your touch on the ball," Taube explained. "So coming back in the spring was kind of nice since it wasn't during conference."
 
Taube said she wasn't afraid of contact, either. "I knew I was going to be fine, so transitioning back into contact was actually the most exciting part. I was ready for it."
 
Though a nice transition for Taube, it was a nerve-wracking one for everyone else.
 
"Getting her out there at the beginning, every time she got touched you're a little nervous if you're in my shoes," Cuadrado said. "But they swear up and down that she's stronger now then she'll ever be. She's a bit of a miracle child, but that's due to determination from her side."
 
With the 2017 season wrapping up on Friday, Taube has already proved that she is back and better than ever since her freshman year debut. Taube scored her first career goal against Boise State on Oct. 15.
 
"I've really been wanting to score a goal for a long time," Taube said. "It just happened. I kind of planned it, it was kind of luck, but it was very exciting. I was very happy about it."
 
Coach Cuadrado described the goal as beautiful. "She hit it hard and she hit it well and basically no goalkeeper in the country was going to save it where she put it."
 
For Taube, her goal may have been validation that she's back, but for her coach, he said she was back a long time ago.
 
As a defensive midfielder, no one in the game uses their body as much as Taube does. Her toughness this season has been a sight to see and her physicality was on display earlier this season against San José State.
 
The Cowgirls are the only team to beat San José State in conference play this year and Taube was a huge part in that victory. Assigned against the Spartans' most prolific scorer, Dorthe Hoppius, Taube shut her down.
 
Hoppius, a German National Women's Team player in the 2016 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, managed only two shots in 90 minutes of action with Taube shadowing her all over the field. It was Taube's first start of the season and in Cuadrado's eyes, she took Hoppius down.
 
"Before the game I basically told her, you've got one job to do and it's to shut Hoppius down," Cuadrado said. "She's a full German national team player and by far in my opinion, the best player in the conference. Summer took her right out of the game."
 
When given a job, Taube goes out and gets it done. Cuadrado described her as someone who, even on her worst day, will still go out and give it everything she's got.
 
Taube said she not only feels strong again physically, but also feels stronger in her confidence. As a freshman in 2015 she was a little more timid, but now she is back and making a bigger impact as a goal-scorer and shut-down defender.
 
Taube confessed, "I came back with more confidence knowing that I'm here to play and not even a back injury can stop me. I want to play soccer and that is what I'm going to do."