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CHAMPAIGN – When teammates tease Danielle Kot about being the iron woman of the Illinois soccer team, there's more to it than the junior's streak of playing every minute in the team's last 35 matches.
Kot was the talk of the team after each player's blood iron was measured before the season. The defender's ferritin level – which indicates how much iron is stored in the body – of 110 micrograms per liter was the highest on the team.
"That's become a running joke now of 'You can recover (from matches) because you're super human. You have a super-high iron level,' " a smiling Kot said recently. "And everyone's always like 'What are you eating? What are you doing?'
"They just like to make fun of me for it."
Whatever the Brookfield, Wis., native is doing, it's working. A combination of talent, soccer savvy, fitness and the good fortune to avoid injury have allowed Kot to become a long-running fixture on the field for the Illini.
Entering Friday's trip to No. 12 Purdue, Kot had played every minute of her team's last 35 matches. The streak dates back to the final two matches of the 2007 season, when she was a freshman.
Since entering the UI, Kot has played in – and started – 53 of a possible 54 matches. Of those, she played every minute 48 times.
It's reached the point that teammates take her on-field presence almost for granted.
"People don't even notice it probably," junior defender Laura Knutson said. "Danielle's expected to be on the field. It's kind of a natural thing. You don't really ever think of her ever coming off the field."
That's fine with Kot, who already can hear the clock ticking on her college career.
"Knowing that I'm only here for four years, every minute that I can play is exciting," she said.
The two-time NSCAA Youth All-American wasted no time earning playing time upon arriving at the UI. Starting all but one game as a freshman – and playing 15 in their entirety – Kot made such an impact that she was selected to the All-Big Ten Freshman Team as well as Top Drawer Soccer's national All-Rookie first team.
"She had a sense of the game and a maturity very early on," Illini coach Janet Rayfield said. "A lot of players come into the college level and have to catch up to the speed of play of the game. They have to speed up their own ability to read the game. They don't have the confidence to step in and verbally organize and communicate right away."
Kot not only had all those qualities, Rayfield says, but she emerged that first season as the on-field organizer of the UI defense – no insignificant development considering that the same unit included an All-American and future Olympian in Emily Zurrer.
"I think what's really rare is how early on (Kot) was able to take a leadership role with the team, especially on the field," Rayfield said. "Even next to Emily Zurrer, she still was kind of the vocal leader even as a freshman and a sophomore."
Message delivered
If Kot's quick development was a revelation to her coach, the then-freshman was in for her own eye-opener.
It occurred after the fourth match of her UI career. While the team was in Los Angeles for a tournament, Kot came down with stomach flu and sat out a match against Cal State Northridge.
Afterward, Rayfield sat down with Kot and delivered a message that was startling and thought-provoking for the newcomer. In essence, the UI coach questioned not whether Kot was ill but whether she was too ill to play.
"If you were on the women's national team, would you have missed this game?" Kot recalls Rayfield asking.
As the UI coach recalls: "I probably told her today was OK (to sit out), but in your future think about if you were a senior and the leader of this team and you felt that same way, you'd want that person on the field for you.
"I think as you grow and mature, you can still work through some of those games. It wasn't going to hurt her any more to play. I think I told her as she got further in her career she'd figure out a way to have played that game."
The talk had a profound and lasting impact on Kot.
"I actually feel awful about missing that game still," she said. "I think as a junior (now), even if I would have felt (ill) like that, I wouldn't have missed. ... Over time you get a perspective on how important every game is. Even if you miss a few minutes, it's a big deal. You want to spend as much time as you can on the field.
"So looking back now, that's one of my biggest regrets here."
Two years later, she's had no reason for further regret. A seemingly indestructible Kot neither wants nor needs one. Her playing streak – as it must be – has been accompanied by an injury-free streak that's the envy of teammates.
"With the amount of people we have in treatment, I'm thrilled that – knock on wood – I haven't been in treatment yet," she said.
In fact, Kot can recall missing only one match during her entire career because of injury. At 17, she suffered a broken eye socket during a collision while leaping for a header.
"They had to make sure I didn't have a concussion," Kot said.
To be fair, the 2008 All-Big Ten second-teamer plays a position more conducive to a consecutive-minutes streak than others. Defenders aren't required to run as often or as far as forwards and midfielders.
Running smart
It's also fair to point out Kot employs an economy of motion that most other defenders have yet to master. That, too, can help minimize the impact on her legs of all those minutes.
"She reads the game so well, she doesn't have to run around and chase all over the place," Rayfield said. "She expends a lot of mental energy organizing the defense. The better job she does of that, the less physical energy she has to expend during a game. And she's pretty good at that."
There's also the amount of attention Kot puts into her fitness level. It's helped her bounce back quickly from one match to the next.
"The recovery part for me has never been a big problem," Kot said. "It's just always come naturally. My legs seem to be able to play the next game."
In fact, if Kot can continue to avoid serious injury, the main threat to her consecutive-minutes streak might be from a blowout match. For the time being, Rayfield prefers keeping Kot on the field whenever she inserts any young and developing defenders in already-decided matches.
"You want someone there that can help them adjust," the UI coach said.
But Rayfield also already is on the lookout for a defensive leader to succeed Kot when she leaves after the 2010 season. That transitional process eventually could mean Kot spending at least a few minutes on the sideline.
"I'm sure when she's a senior ... we might be tempted to do that a little more," Rayfield said.
When she does, the Illini coach expects to be in for an argument.
"She will fight me tooth and nail on it, I'm sure," Rayfield said. "Kot doesn't want to be anywhere but on the field, and she could do it probably 365 days a year."
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