Sydney Brackett planted her right leg to shoot with her left in practice, as she’d done countless times before. This time, a teammate slid and tackled her. Her right knee buckled, resulting in an MCL injury.

It was in practice leading up to Syracuse’s Sept. 15 game with Fordham, and Brackett missed almost a month. She returned on Oct. 10 to play 33 minutes off the bench against Wake Forest.

After coming off the bench again three days later against Miami, Brackett drew her first start since September on Saturday against Clemson and played 60 minutes. Her return gives the injury-riddled Syracuse (3-9-2, 1-5-1 Atlantic Coast) offense a much-needed boost as she looks to finish off her senior season.

“We’re gonna play her as much as possible until we see she can’t help the team in her full capacity,” head coach Nicky Adams said, noting Brackett’s minutes will be varied accordingly going forward.

Throughout high school and the early parts of her college career, Bracket had dealt with nothing worse than an ankle sprain, she said. This MCL injury was the most serious injury she’s ever had.

Brackett had trouble getting comfortable running, cutting and kicking again, all which affected her mentally. She tried several different therapies with varying degrees of success.

“The biggest part of the recovery process was wrapping your brain around the fact that it’s not going to be able to move the same as it did two weeks prior to being injured,” Brackett said.

Brackett made an instant impact her freshman season, tying the team lead in assists (three). Her sophomore season, she led Syracuse in points (11) and goals (five). In each of her three seasons, Brackett led the team in shots or shots on goal. This year, despite missing five games and being limited in three more, she leads the Orange with 12 shots on goal.

Shortly after her injury, she pinpointed a game against Florida State on Sept. 29 for a potential return. But that week in practice, she was still in too much pain and her knee was unstable.

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Brackett was, however, able to warm up for the Orange’s next game — Oct. 4 on the road against Notre Dame. Despite Brackett wanting to play, Adams told the senior before FSU that she wasn’t going to play her. She still wasn’t ready, and Brackett agreed.

While injured, Brackett watched and helped during special drills for attackers. Adams said she had to once remind Brackett to also take time to focus on herself.

“It’s always beneficial to hear voices of people who can see things on the field that you can’t necessarily see when you’re on the field,” junior defender Shannon Aviza said.

Brackett said she’s confident in what she can do for the Orange the rest of the season since she’s returned. She now can run a straight shot down the field without issue and is not worried about her pace going forward.

In her absence, the Orange scored just one goal off a penalty kick in five games. More of her teammates got injured and the clock continued to tick down on her senior season.

“I think there are a lot of reasons and motivators,” Brackett said of her return. “But I think I would have the same initiative in any situation because all you want to do is play.”

On a program that’s been defensive-minded for several seasons, Brackett has been a constant motor trying to keep its offense afloat. While Brackett said she’s proud of what she’s accomplished, she said she wishes she did more.

“It’s a two-sided coin,” Brackett said. “But I would say it’s a bittersweet ending. I’m so, so grateful for my experience here in every way, but I’m always going to want the most out of myself.”

— Asst. digital editor Arabdho Majumder and staff writer Tim Nolan contributed reporting to this story.

Published on October 23, 2019 at 11:25 pm

Contact Eric: estorms@syr.edu