Kadeisha Buchanan was already a special talent when she debuted as a freshman for West Virginia University’s women’s soccer team four years ago, but Morgantown is where the Brampton native found her voice.

The centreback earned her first cap for the Canadian women’s national team some eight months prior to donning a blue and gold Mountaineer jersey, drawing quick attention to herself despite manning one of soccer’s less glamorous positions.

By the time Buchanan arrived on campus, her regular inclusion in West Virginia’s starting eleven was hardly questioned.

But still, she was reluctant to speak up.

Fast forward four years and Buchanan will cap off an award-filled college career as a finalist for NCAA soccer’s most prestigious individual honour, the Mac Hermann Trophy, which will be awarded on Friday night.

That player known largely for her potential is no longer. Today, Buchanan is a veritable star in the women’s game whose Olympic bronze medal and Women’s World Cup appearances are just the tip of an iceberg of both college and international accolades and accomplishments.

But it’s not those honours Buchanan pointed to when asked Thursday how she has evolved since going south of the border in the summer of 2013.

“This season, I opened up to the floor, rather than me keeping my thoughts and opinions to myself and knowing that something is right but not saying it,” she told the Star from the airport, just before catching a flight to St. Louis for the ceremony.

A keen student of the game, the ever-humble Buchanan now understands her high-level perspective can affect an outcome. Today, she equates keeping quiet with selfishness.

But her West Virginia coach Nikki Izzo-Brown believes that when the 21-year-old was younger, her reluctance to speak up came from a misunderstanding of her talent. Izzo-Brown said that as a rookie, Buchanan didn’t want to overstep her bounds.

“Here’s a kid who is 17 years old and dominates at the highest level. She didn’t want anyone to take that wrong.”

It took time for Buchanan to realize she could take over a game and be a leader all while maintaining her humility. Once she shared that voice, Izzo-Brown said, everyone around her was more successful.

West Virginia was the NCAA’s No.1-ranked program in 2016 and went to the final of its first College Cup appearance, losing 3-1 to the University of Southern California.

Buchanan, a four-time all-American and four-time Big 12 defensive player of the year, helped captain her team to a nation-best 18 shutouts this season.

Buchanan is quick to share the credit with her fellow Mountaineer defenders, like Canadian Amandine Pierre-Louis.

“We were one. That unit is solid,” she said.

Izzo-Brown hopes such strong team statistics help earn Buchanan the trophy this time around.

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It’s the second consecutive year Buchanan has been among the three finalists. That’s a rarity, though she is the first to remind that Canadian Christine Sinclair won back-to-back trophies in 2004 and 2005.

She would be just the second Canadian of 29 female winners; on the men’s side, only three of 35 honourees are Canadian-born.

“To be on the same list as Sinclair, her accolades, it’s just an honour,” Buchanan said. “A lot of top athletes have won this award and that’s why I want to win also, just to be among the names of many, many great players.

Izzo-Brown believes Buchanan’s loss to Raquel Rodriguez last year came after voters ― NCAA Division 1 coaches ― weighed too heavily on reaching the final four. West Virginia University only reached the Elite 8 in the 2015 season.

This year, she can’t see the trophy going to either of Buchanan’s competitors, University of Southern California midfielder Morgan Andrews or Stanford midfielder Andi Sullivan.

“I would be shocked if she didn’t get it. I would be absolutely shocked, for sure.”

Buchanan is feeling more confident about her chances in 2016, another trait she believes developed over her college years.

And while she has one eye on starting her professional career ― after sifting through options, she plans to play in France, though wouldn’t name a specific club ― Buchanan also has her eye on one final college prize.

“This year, being competitive, I would obviously love to give my speech at the end and hold that trophy as well.”

Once there, she’ll be comforted by the advice she would offer that quiet, self-conscious freshman she once was.

“You’re there for a reason.”