Trevor Davock’s college soccer career was derailed last year when he was forced to redshirt and have surgery on both of his ankles. He was coming off freshman and sophomore years at Boston College in which he appeared in 39 of 42 games (27 starts), scored 23 points (three game-winning goals), and scored a tying goal and penalty-kick shootout goal in a win that gave BC its first NCAA Elite Eight appearance since 2002 .
He was sidelined last season, but the 21-year-old from Medway said he feels “better than ever” now, with three starts and three assists in five games since his return from injury. That self-assessment is important, because his coach, Ed Kelly, said Davock had been battling injuries long before he underwent ankle surgery.
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“He’s been struggling with injuries for two years,” Kelly said. “Now it’s just a matter of finding him ways to produce in games. It’s hard to jump into ACC [Atlantic Coast Conference] play.”
Davock graduated from The Rivers School in Weston, where he compiled an impressive soccer record. He led the Independent School League with 31 goals his junior year and scored 26 goals and 16 assists his senior year. He also had an impressive run with the New England Football Club, where Kelly, who would eventually be his collegiate coach, led Davock’s teams to numerous club championships.
Q. How are you feeling about your game and that of your team right now?
A. My ankles have never felt better. I feel like I’m the healthiest I’ve been in a while and I think my game is at its top level. And I think the season’s going pretty well. We just lost to Louisville, 1-0, but we beat Clemson in the ACC last week [3-2] and we’ve played some good soccer.
Q. How hard was it to sit out a whole season after having so much success early on in your BC career?
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A. It was definitely frustrating, but I knew that it was going to pay off in the long run. When you’re watching the game and the team’s struggling, you think you can come in and do something but you just can’t. In that sense, it’s tough. But it definitely helped me become a better teammate and a better leader, watching and not being able to help on the field. You have to do it off the field, picking the guys up.
Q. What went into the process of getting from surgery back to playing condition?
A. I had my surgeries in December, so I was in a wheelchair for a month and a half. And then I was in casts up to my knees until probably the end of March. And then after March it was just all [physical therapy]. I was with the sports medicine trainer for our soccer team at Boston College and I was doing PT like five days a week, just hammering out rehab and working on my balance and stuff like that.
I wasn’t cleared to play soccer games until June 1. So that’s when I started playing with the summer league. And even when I started in June, first it wasn’t the best. I could still feel that it would get really sore after just playing practice, but now [my ankles are] so much more well trained and they have so much more endurance that they can handle basically anything.
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Q. Do you view your goal [an ACC title] and what it takes to get there differently now that you’re more experienced?
A. I said to the guys when the season started that four years goes by really quickly. And after my freshman year, we haven’t really gotten close to the Elite Eight and that’s where we want to get to, the Elite Eight, the Final Four. That’s the goal. You can’t take anything for granted. You’ve got to put everything into every game, every season you have, because you have no guarantee that you’re going to get back there.
Q. What’s your favorite pro soccer team, and why?
A. Manchester United. Because when I was growing up, that’s what Ed [Kelly]’s favorite team was and he always would tell our team to watch them.
Charlie Wolfson can be reached at charlie.wolfson@globe.com.