Heading into the 2022 campaign, Tristan Stephani was locked in a tight battle with Jimmy Joyce for the Crusaders’ starting goalkeeper position. The two players were neck-and-neck going into the season opener at Manhattan, where Joyce played the first half before Stephani came off the bench to play the second half.
But only 25 minutes into that game, Stephani suffered a knee injury which would cause him to miss the remainder of the season. Even though he would not step on the field again in 2022, he never stopped working to make sure he would be ready to return as soon as possible.
“I spent a lot of time in the training room every single day, in addition to doing extra stuff inside and outside of training,” Stephani said. “I give a lot of credit to Bella Thornton, who spent hours working with me to make sure I was strengthening everything around my knee. I wanted to make sure that when I was able to come back and play, I would be fully healed and strengthened to a point where I wouldn’t need to get an operation done.”
Three-hundred sixty-four days later, Stephani was back on the field in a Holy Cross uniform when the Crusaders kicked off the 2023 season, once again against Manhattan. He has started five of the team’s first six games in goal, while totaling 19 saves during that time.
“There is nothing quite like just getting out there again,” Stephani said. “I’ve been able to secure a spot in the starting 11, and it goes to show how hard I’ve worked to come back. Being back out on the pitch with the boys and helping the team just feels great.”
