By Kalen Taylor, USU Athletic Media Relations

LOGAN, Utah - Watching the sport you love to play from the sidelines for an entire season can be tough for any athlete. The 2013 soccer season was just that for USU senior midfielder Katie Flynn.

Flynn started her college career at Idaho State in 2012, where she had two goals and two assists in her freshman season. However at the end of the year she decided to transfer to Utah State where she then had to sit out the next season per NCAA policy.

"It was hard," Flynn said. "You have to find internal motivation because you have to practice but you never get on the field, you don't get to travel and that's tough."

However, sitting out a season without an injury gave Flynn the time she needed to learn how to play with a new team.

"It was hard but I think it made me better," she said. "I got that year to see how the team plays, adjust the way I play and work on my own skills."

USU women's soccer coach Heather Cairns said she was happy when Flynn decided to transfer and was impressed with how she improved during her redshirt year.

"She took that year as `I'm doing what I can to train the team, to make the team better and improve myself,'" Cairns said. "I think that effort she put forth in her redshirt year has really shown."

Flynn, who is from Sandy, Utah and went to Juan Diego High School, has played mostly midfield during her career, but at USU she plays multiple variations of the position.

"You'll notice in a game Katie will play two or three positions and that's part of her versatility and attitude, she wants to be wherever she can help the team the most," Cairns said. "That's what makes her a great player for us."

Even though she plays and makes plays all over the field, Flynn still has her favorite spots to be in on the field, depending on who the Aggies are up against.

"I've learned to like the outside back a lot," Flynn said. "I also like playing in the center attacking midfield position. I like center attacker because I have a lot of options since I'm in the middle of the field I can go any direction. I like outside back because it's pretty fun to shut down a forward."

The ability to shut down a forward and play the outside back isn't something that always came naturally to her. In fact, her coach said it was something she had to learn once she got to USU.

"We used that year she had to focus on defending," Cairns said. "She played outside back in our practices she was all up for it. That position was a weakness in her game but she improved tremendously."

Flynn said the focus and drive she has to get better come simply from the love of the game.

"It's soccer and I love it," she said. "I always want to try hard and get better. I knew that if I practiced hard and kept working, the next year I would be able to get into the games."

Coach Cairns said that Flynn keeps cool on the pitch and has a positive attitude that helps the team. Flynn said that her mentality on the field is to stay calm.

"I'm a very calm player, which could be good or bad," she said. "No matter what position I play in, who I'm with or where I am on the field I try be consistent and to keep everyone positive and calm."

Flynn has accomplished exactly what she wanted to with consistency. She scored two goals in her freshman, sophomore and junior years. It wasn't just limited to goal scoring either. Flynn had two assists her freshman and sophomore seasons and five her junior year. The five assists is tied for ninth all-time assists in a season. Overall,she is tied for eighth all-time with 10 assists.

This season she knocked in one goal and had one assist while she helped the Aggies to an 11-8-0 overall record and a 7-4-0 record in the Mountain West, good enough to earn the No. 4 seed for the MW tournament.

Flynn graduated from Utah State in May of 2016 with a degree in exercise science and is currently working on another degree in sociology. She said once the MW tournament and her soccer days are done here she's looking at a few options in the medical field.

"I think going down the medical path is what I want to do," Flynn said. "Maybe an ultrasound or X-ray technician, which would require a few more years of school. I haven't really looked into it too much but I will once I'm done here."