“As a soccer player you’re always looking for that first goal to get you rolling,” Wade said. “Being able to do that so quickly was super helpful and awesome to get those nerves out and be able to settle myself and get my footing for the rest of the season.”

Wade, the 2016 Gatorade Player of the Year, Salt Lake Tribune Player of the Year, and Deseret News 5A MVP returned to the Cougars’ soccer team in July of 2020 after spending two years serving a church mission in Houston, Texas. It is safe to say that BYU Women’s Soccer Head Coach Jen Rockwood was happy to have her back.

“We’re really excited that she’s here,” Rockwood said. “She has so much personality and energy. She brings a lot to our team both in training and in games.”

Having to adapt to so many missionaries going in and out has been an adjustment for Rockwood, but it seems to be bringing some unexpected positive results back to the team.

“It’s a very unique growing opportunity for them to go and serve a mission and then come back and play,” she said. “It helps the chemistry of the team. They become great role models and examples for our younger players.”

Prior to leaving for her mission, Wade had already made a significant contribution to the Cougars soccer team, being named to the 2018 West Coast Conference Women’s Soccer All-Freshman Team. And although she returned home in the middle of the pandemic, the things she learned while serving in Texas prepared her for what she had to face coming back to so much uncertainty.

 “Being a missionary, I learned that I could keep achieving goals even when there is a lot going on in the world,” Wade said. “That’s really carried over with soccer. There’s been so many unknowns; some small injuries that I had when I got back, not knowing whether or not there would even be a season. But I’ve learned to really work hard regardless of unknowns.”

Thankfully, this fall has been close to normal again, and now she gets to play another season with some of her former teammates from Davis, Mikayla Colohan and Zoe Jacobs. In 2014 and 2015, the dynamic duo of Colohan and Wade helped the Darts win two 5A state championships and earn a Super 25 top national ranking in 2015 following an undefeated season. A year later, all three of them were together as they once again finished undefeated and repeated as 5A state champions and the highest ranked team in the country. Now, they hope to continue that success competing for BYU. 

“It’s been so much fun. It makes chemistry so much easier,” Wade said of playing with her former Darts teammates. “You can definitely see it on and off the field. We’ve been friends for so long. It’s been so much fun being able to play with two of my best friends.”

BYU Women’s soccer games can be heard on BYU Radio 107.9 FM to continue following Wade, Colohan and Jacobs.