It was just over a year ago when, on a Sunday morning, UMBC defenseman Bobby Atwell leaped for a high pass from his brother in the family backyard, landed in a hole and changed his lacrosse career.
Atwell jokes that the hole in the family backyard has been filled in now, but it did its damage in January 2009 when the preseason second team All-American defender tore his ACL, ending that season before it even began.
Atwell, thought by some at the time to be the top close defenseman in the nation, was supposed to be heading back to UMBC to begin preseason practice that night.
Instead, he knew he was finished.
“I called the coaches in the ambulance and told them I had torn my ACL,” the senior captain said. “I heard the pop myself. It just didn’t feel right.”
The news was like a punch to the stomach for Atwell’s teammates.
“We were all pretty much in shock, we didn’t believe it at first,” said midfielder Mike Camardo. “Whoever he’s guarding, he’s usually shutting them down.”
But the Retrievers rallied in 2009, enjoying a 12-4 season that culminated in the team’s fourth straight trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Atwell, meanwhile, battled through rehab, hoping his lacrosse career didn’t end that January during UMBC’s winter break.
It didn’t. Atwell received a medical redshirt in 2009 and chose to stay at UMBC for a fifth year in order to use his final season of athletic eligibility.
He was named a preseason third team All-American in 2010 despite missing all of 2009, perhaps a nod to his past accomplishments. But Atwell has a different idea.
“They must have a lot of faith in my doctors,” he said. The road back wasn’t an easy one, but Atwell has resumed his role on the team and, after some early struggles, has been a solid contributor to the Retrievers’ defense.
“I think what’s happened is, early on, he tried to make up for the entire year that he lost,” UMBC coach Don Zimmerman said. “And people do that. They try to get it all back in one time. Bobby was just so excited to get back out here and play for us.”
Zimmerman also said it shouldn’t be discounted that Atwell chose to come back to complete his eligibility.
“It’s not always easy coming back as a fifth year guy when the guys that you entered school with have all gone on,” Zimmerman said. “Now you’re kind of left behind.”
But Atwell seems to have meshed back with the team and Zimmerman said he looks like the same player who was an All-America East Conference performer in 2007 and 2008.
“I’ve played with these guys for many years,” Atwell said. “I think I fit pretty well back into the puzzle.”
The road back, however, was not an easy one.
“It was tough, it was definitely one of the hardest rehabs I ever had to do in my life,” Atwell said. “There was a couple points where I questioned if I could come back. There were points in the fall that were really tough for me.”
Atwell said he felt like he didn’t have his leg under him at times throughout fall practice. It was frustrating for him to not be able to perform to the high level he’d grown accustomed to.
He had never experienced an injury so severe before. Atwell spent two-to-three hours a day, five days a week rehabbing his knee after surgery.
He worked on regaining flexibility, which he said was the most difficult part, by laying on a table and having the Retrievers’ trainer, Michelle Daniels, manually bend his knee.
Atwell eventually began strengthening the knee through lifting and, in the summer, moved onto footwork and speed.
By the time Atwell was ready to participate in team practices and workouts in the fall, he said he was ready for it. Anything was better than more rehab.
“I feel like it’s kind of easier to practice,” he said with a laugh.
Now, Atwell says he is 100 percent. Doctors told him his knee is stronger than ever before. He doesn’t worry about it on the field.
“If I get hurt again, I’m done anyway,” he said. “I might as well go out there and give it my all.”
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