CLAYTON — Courtney Henry is a player that has it all: speed, footwork, a powerful, accurate shot, and the ability to make her teammates better and lead through example. Henry pushed the Thousand Islands girls soccer team to a top finish in the Frontier League "C" Division and led the league in scoring as she accumulated 29 goals and eight assists.

"There's not one word that I could just (use to describe) this season," Henry said. "It makes me feel absolutely amazing in my heart. It does. TI soccer has never been like this."

One thing she does not have, however, is the meniscus in her left knee. The meniscus was removed following a near-catastrophic injury that also resulted in a tear of her anterior cruciate ligament.

Recovering from the damage to her leg will put Henry's determination, toughness and grit — the same qualities that made the senior such a clear-cut choice for the Times All-North Frontier League Most Valuable Player — to the test.

The injury surfaced during the Vikings' last game of the season, a must-win if Thousand Islands was going to take its first "C" Division title as the Vikings found themselves a point behind Beaver River in the standings for the first time all year.

Henry said she heard a pop in her knee late in the game, a pop she self-diagnosed as just a stinger. As head coach Tim Filiatrault approached, he could sense that the injury was serious. Henry's fingers dug into the field, her body uncharacteristically tense.

"When I saw it happen on the field it was one of those moments that I can still see in slow motion in my mind," Filiatrault said. "I had a feeling that it was not going to be good."

Henry tried to tough out the injury in the week heading into the Frontier League playoffs, but moments before the Vikings championship match with Beaver River, she pulled herself from the field. Her knee just wasn't quite right.

Henry spent the week prior to the opening of the Section 3 playoffs intensely rehabbing her leg. She felt she was back to a level at which she was comfortable to play, and with a twinge in her knee she did just that, taking the field for most of the second half in the Vikings' quarterfinal game against Waterville.

Thousand Islands, and especially Henry, seemed to have avoided a major setback as she was able to take the field. But it all came crashing down when, on the day of the Vikings' semifinal game, Henry heard another pop.

This time it was no stinger. A magnetic resonance imaging scan relayed the news that Henry's ACL and meniscus were torn. Doctors said it would take a pair of surgeries and a year of rehab for her to regain the form that was on display this season. Henry was frightened by the news, and for a fleeting moment questioned whether or not she'd be able to play soccer again.

Henry is slated to undergo arthroscopic surgery on her ACL in early December.

For now you can find her holding a clipboard on the Vikings sidelines during basketball season.

"I'm dedicated to it even though I can't be on the team," Henry said. "It's the least I can do to be on the team."

Though she cannot play, Henry refuses to leave her teammates and still shows up for practices and games, displaying the same dedication, maturity and leadership that put her at the pinnacle of success during the girls soccer season.

"She knows what she wants to do and I don't really think that this (injury) is going to stop her," Filiatrault said. "If she wants to be back out on that soccer field she'll get there. She's determined, which is what makes her such a great athlete in the first place."