Lester Back to Business

By Taylor Knight, Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C.-- Ten minutes.

That’s about all the time fifth-year senior and captain of the Duke women’s soccer team Molly Lester could spare for an interview.

Rushing from class at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business, where Lester recently completed the first and arguably most difficult quarter (Quantitative Business Analysis, anyone?) of her one-year MBA program, to practice, she lugged her backpack and soccer bag, both on the verge of overflowing.

But the Atlanta native could care less about the number of bags she has to carry, as long as it means she can practice and play with the team – neither of which have been a guarantee throughout her Duke career.

A top-100 recruit out of The Lovett School, Lester joined the Duke women’s soccer program in 2007 but was granted a medical redshirt while she rehabbed and recovered from reconstructive surgery on left anterior cruciate ligament, torn in April of her senior season.

“I didn’t get cleared until October, and by then it wasn’t really worth trying to squeak out three games at the end of the season,” said Lester.

She returned in 2008 ready for her first full season with the team but saw limited action, appearing in just half of Duke’s matches for a total of 270 minutes.

Then prior to her junior year, there was more bad news and another setback. Lester reported for preseason and slogged through grueling fitness tests, but experienced swelling and pain in her left knee – the same one injured in high school. Before getting the chance to suit up for a match, Lester learned the knee would require microfracture surgery to repair cartilage damaged as a result of her original injury.

“The recovery from [microfracture surgery] was miserable,” said Lester. “You can’t bear weight on it for like eight weeks.”

Therefore, Lester understandably entered her senior season with a certain degree of apprehension.

“I just didn’t know what would happen. I didn’t know if my knee would hold up, I didn’t know if I would play; I was just so unsure of what my role would be,” she said.

But in the end, perhaps the pain and the countless hours of rehab were worth it. Lester had a breakout senior season, scoring the first goal of her career – a game-winner nonetheless – in Duke’s season opener against Georgia, collecting national accolades for the performance.
She went on to start in 20 of the Blue Devils’ 23 matches, posting her best statistical season as she transitioned from midfield to an attacking role up top. Lester was healthy, contributing to the team’s scoring effort, and finding her place in an evolving Duke lineup – just in time for graduation.

“I felt like I had more to give to this team,” she said.

Fortunately for Lester, with a year of NCAA eligibility remaining from her freshman year medical redshirt and a number of outstanding Duke graduate programs at her fingertips, she would get the opportunity, receiving admission into the Fuqua School of Business.

But given Fuqua’s academic calendar, with courses beginning during the summer, Lester found herself stuck in an all too familiar situation – stuck watching (this time in the classroom) while the rest of the team practiced.

“It was frustrating,” said Lester. “Particularly when the team went to the mountains [for preseason camp] and I had to stay back for a day and a half to finish up class.”

However, thanks to an understanding head coach in Robbie Church, flexible professors, and the advice of Matt Thomas, a former Duke men’s soccer defender who was enrolled in the same program last year, Lester has missed less time on the field than even she expected.

“A lot of things actually worked out pretty serendipitously,” she pointed out, not having missed a game or any major business school commitments.

Despite the hectic schedule, Lester’s on-field performance hasn’t seemed to suffer. Through Thursday’s match with the College of Charleston, the 5-4 forward had played in all nine matches for the fourth-ranked Blue Devils, scoring two goals, including the game-winner against Army.

Lester and the Duke women will take on sixth-ranked Florida State on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Koskinen Stadium to open Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) action.

Hopefully Lester has it penciled in on her schedule.

Duke information