It has been an eight-month wait for Lake Central’s Isabella Soria.
The junior midfielder hasn’t reached the end of the long road back from a torn ACL but is down to days — not months — until her return.
“This whole process, you have to have some patience with it, and I’ve had that,” she said. “I know my time will come. It’s so close.”
Soria said she’s expecting to be cleared for full practice this week and is eyeing a return to game action with the Indians (2-1-1) by the first week of September. Her recovery process and her spirit-lifting trip to Australia during the Women’s World Cup give her confidence that her best is yet to come.
She had two goals and six assists during her second varsity season last year before she injured her left knee during a tournament in Florida just before Christmas.
“It was the last minute of the last game, I was running for a ball and some girl took me out,” she said. “As soon as I went down, my knee had this burning pain, and I couldn’t move it. I knew something was wrong.”
She had surgery one week later, and the arduous rehabilitation process followed, although Soria said she didn’t focus on the negatives.
“I knew I had time in front of me when I could get better,” she said. “And because I’ve been playing sports nonstop, it gave me time to take a break. I’ve enjoyed it. I feel really refreshed and excited to get back to playing.”
Lake Central coach Genna Shinkan said it wasn’t easy keeping Soria’s activity within the prescribed boundaries.
“I knew she’d be intense with her recovery,” Shinkan said. “This summer, she’d say, ‘I’m allowed to do some touches. Can I jump in this drill?’ And I’d have to be the one to tell her to stay back. So we know that when she comes back, she’ll be ready.”
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Soria’s trip to Australia, where she has family, made her want to play even more. Her mother, Loretta, grew up in Australia before playing college basketball at Chicago State, where she met Soria’s father, Daniel, a 1998 East Chicago graduate who pitched for the Gary SouthShore RailCats for two seasons.
Soria said they couldn’t make it to New Zealand, where Team USA played. But she attended Australia’s send-off game before the tournament and two games during the group stage, Germany’s 6-0 win against Morocco and the scoreless tie between Canada and Nigeria.
“It was so awesome, just being a part of that environment,” Soria said. “The crowd was electric.”
Loretta Soria said her daughter continued to focus on her soccer career in Australia.
“She was going to a soccer field every morning to train,” Loretta Soria said. “Going to the World Cup has really inspired her to come back and play soccer at an even higher level.”
During the World Cup, Isabella Soria was reminded she’s not the first soccer player who has had to recover from this injury.
“It was inspiring to see them play,” she said. “Many of them have torn ACLs, so seeing them out there, competing again, has really motivated me.”
Soria is motivated to go full-tilt when she returns to game action.
“When I get back, I’m going to play with no fear,” she said. “I want to make all of this worth it.”
Dave Melton is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.