Cavalier Corner is the publication just for UVa sports fans!
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1033271
22 CAVALIER CORNER BY MIKE SCANDURA E ven saying Virginia soccer play- ers Mia Hoen-Beck and Anna Sumpter give new meaning to the phrase "mental toughness" is an understatement. Sumpter is a redshirt second-year mid- fielder who three times blew out an ACL even before she even set foot on the Charlot- tesville campus. She tore her left ACL early in her sopho- more season at Western Albemarle High in Crozet, Va. As a junior, while playing bas- ketball for the Warriors, she tore her right ACL. Then, while attending a soccer camp at Virginia midway through her senior year in high school, she again tore the right ACL. "I would say the mental side of things was a lot harder to overcome," said Sumpter, who was an all-state selection when she scored 25 goals as a freshman for Western Albemarle. "Luckily I'm relatively athletic, but it took some time before I felt confident in my strength and ability as a player. "When you come back, you second guess yourself. It's easy to get caught up in that and doubt if you're ever going to be the same player." Despite the nature of Sumpter's injuries, UVA head coach Steve Swanson didn't hesitate to offer a scholarship to this top-20 player. "I think medicine and the technology in dealing with this injury have changed so much over the last 30 years," he said. "What you have is the confidence that someone can overcome an ACL. "I've had players with a number of ACLs at younger ages. It's a little bit of a risk, but not something I ever thought about twice." What Hoen-Beck, now a redshirt third- year, experienced defies description. As a junior at James Madison High in northern Virginia, she tore her left ACL during a club game. During her freshman year at Virginia she was playing in a pick-up game when she again tore that ACL before preseason practice. After surgery to repair that ACL, Hoen- Beck developed a staph infection because she was allergic to the antibiotics that were administered to combat the infection. That forced her to spend virtually the whole month of August in a hospital. After the staph infection was eradicated, she finally stepped on a Virginia soccer field for a spring game against William & Mary in April 2016. But during an offseason train- ing session, she again tore her left ACL and lost another season. In order to enable Hoen-Beck to walk normally and also play soccer, her physi- cians — instead of using a ligament from a cadaver to repair the damage — used one from her right knee. But the night after the surgery her right kneecap fractured in half. As a result, Hoen-Beck had to wear braces on both knees and use a wheelchair in order to get around campus — for two months. Not surprisingly she redshirted in 2015, and sat out the 2016 and 2017 seasons. "It was challenging for a variety of rea- sons, the first of which was not being able to use my two legs that I had relied on for the past 19 years," Hoen-Beck said. "Of course, it's a battle with the ACLs but being extremely limited was a different beast for me. It humbled me. "Until you lose that ability, you don't realize how much you miss being yourself. It's given me a new perspective for being healthy. To be able to run again is a gift and is not to be taken for granted." That being said, what Hoen-Beck en- dured came during the lowest of lows dur- ing her young life. "After every injury you have a moment of 'quit now,'" she said. "I think I knew I was going to have to rehab anyway. Having soccer was a good motivator in the sense of not having to cheat my rehab. "When I had that to look forward to, when rehab became so redundant, that be- came the light at the end of the tunnel. But when I broke my kneecap that was when I almost wanted to throw it in." Fast-forward to Aug. 13 of this year when the Cavaliers played UNC Wilmington in a scrimmage and prevailed 4-0, with Hoen- Beck scoring two goals. Her emotions were the polar opposite of what she had experienced during the numer- ous rehab sessions. "It was so emotional," she said. "All of my family happened to be there. I have a twin brother [Liam] who comes to several games. My parents come to games. I don't know how much I'm ever going to play. But going in and scoring was so emotional. "I have to give all the kudos in the world to my trainer, Bill Parente. At the beginning of the season, the overwhelming support from the players on the bench and the fans was a great feeling. It makes it all worth it." Just like with Sumpter, Swanson didn't hesitate to offer Hoen-Beck a scholarship after her first injury during high school. "I was 100 percent grateful and shocked," she said. "Coach Swanson took a leap of faith with me. I'm grateful to be part of a great program." During his 27 seasons as a head coach — the previous 17 at Virginia — a case can be made that Swanson has seen everything. Not quite. "I've seen a lot of injuries, but what is unique is you don't see one right after the other," he said. "Normally, if you look at somebody that has an injury if they can come back they gain confidence. The dif- "The difficult thing is they had an injury and just as soon as they came back they had another injury. … Their strength was their mental toughness for the long haul." HEAD COACH STEVE SWANSON