After Rowe was finally able to get out of bed, it was time for physical therapy. The goal of physical therapy is to strengthen muscles after an injury. In theory, the same exercises should become easier as time goes on.
But something wasn’t right.
“I felt crazy,” Rowe said.
After every appointment, she couldn’t walk. She wasn’t just sore. She was in serious pain.
“My knee felt like it was just going to give out,” she said. “Which should not be happening that far out after surgery.”
When Rowe had her ACL repaired, the surgery included a screw being inserted into her knee. Normally, this screw holds everything together in place in order to stabilize the “new” ACL. Instead, it was a destabilizing force. Her body was rejecting the screw.
Quickly after the problem was diagnosed, she had another surgery to fix it. If she waited longer, she would risk further damage. Including a potential MCL tear.
“The day after surgery I was walking again,” she said.
Not everything felt natural right away. When she resumed physical therapy, she was obsessed with completing her leg lift exercise. After constant failure, it finally happened.
Rowe laid down flat on her back. She straightened out both of her legs, becoming parallel to the floor. She engaged her quad and slowly raised her left leg, pushing through heaps of discomfort. She reached the top.
Halfway done.
She controlled her leg on the long journey back to the ground. She had done it… Now she only had nine more to go.
“That honestly felt like psychological warfare,” she said.
Rowe needed to complete ten consecutive leg lifts in order to get out of her brace for everyday activities. Her mentality was able to push her through those nine extra reps. She was finally free of the brace.
“I kept having to remind myself… ‘you aren’t going to get the leg lifts tomorrow right off the bat,’”she said. “Once I accomplished that leg lift… it was a piece in getting my mental right.”
Despite all the physical pain Rowe went through, it wasn’t the hardest part of her recovery. That psychological aspect was the highest hurdle she had to clear.
“I had to take a step back in order to bring myself back in,” she said.
When Rowe moved away from home to play at IMG, she left everything behind. Those first days being alone were a challenge, but nothing compared to what she went through after surgery.
She felt more alone after her ACL injury than she did after moving to Florida.
Her friends and teammates did their best to be a support system for her. Even when people tried to be there, it wasn’t always enough.
“People definitely tried to help me,” she said. “It’s just hard because no matter what you still feel alone through all of it.”
Rowe was standing on the sidelines, cheering her team on just two games into the 2025 season.
With Colgate holding onto a 2-1 lead over Marist, Madison Isaacs was attempting to play the ball with her chest facing her own goal. She was tackled from behind by a Red Fox player. She didn’t get up. Isaacs was carted to the sideline.
The first person to greet her? Rowe.
Days later, Rowe got emotional when talking about her teammate. She knows exactly what is in store for Isaacs. Rowe won’t let her go alone.
Through a few tears, she emphatically said five words.
“I’ll be there for her.”
The day after the Marist game, Colgate’s goalkeepers were practicing their shot stopping. Two keepers stood on the outskirts of the 18 yard box, peppering the player in goal with shots in the far upper-90, close bottom corner, and everywhere in between. Nobody was there to take shots from the top of the box.
Rowe volunteered.
It was the first time she had taken shots since the surgery. It didn’t look right. She was stiff and her awkward motion forced the ball into a scoop rather than the preferred drive.
Sure, you wouldn’t mistake her for Carli Lloyd, or even her favorite player, Marta, out there. But she was shooting. The soccer ball was back at her feet and she was making progress.
Colgate was persevering through a humid August practice, making sure they would be in shape for their next match.
The team was participating in an attacking drill. Two defenders would attempt to stop the three attackers from finding the open player for a goal. With every stoppage, shirts would be flipped up into makeshift handkerchiefs, wiping sweat away from foreheads as panting breaths struck the drenched fabric. Still, the players found the energy to cheer on their teammate who was jogging up and down the sideline closest to the stands.
It was easy to miss Rowe through the distraction of the drill. She was off to the side with a trainer, flanked by cones set up in a formation resembling a honeycomb. In between jogs, she was doing agility training in preparation for her upcoming strength test.
In the strength test, Rowe’s injured leg needed to test at 90% compared to her healthy leg through a series of exams. They mostly tested how her knee would handle impact. It was an important step on her journey back to the pitch.
On Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025, she made the trip to Upstate Medical in Syracuse. She failed two of the exams during the strength test, but her doctor chalked it up to confidence issues. Rowe was cleared for contact. Just two months after getting her screw removed, her return was finally within reach.
The ride back home featured a celebratory stop at the Chipotle in Fayetteville, N.Y. She ordered a bowl with white rice, double chicken, corn and guacamole. The usual. She doesn’t get cheese because of her dairy allergy.
There wasn’t a dry eye in the car. And it wasn’t because she had the chance to eat at the only Chipotle within a one-hour radius of Colgate. Her passing grade had done the trick.
“I had a few happy tears on the way back,” she said.
After the strength test, it was time to get back into game shape.
Having the ability to play horizontally and vertically is a prerequisite to being a Division-1 midfielder. Rowe had already gone through the mental challenge of relearning how to run.
Jumping was a different story.
“I was just scared my knee wasn’t ok,” she said. “And I (felt) like I couldn’t even remember how to jump.”
It wasn’t easy, but after a few weeks of getting used to cutting, running, and jumping at game-like speed, Rowe’s debut date was set. On Oct. 18, she would see the field for the first time in over 13 months.
Rowe’s return was inconspicuous. She played 16 minutes in the 3-0 win, and did not show up on the stat sheet. Her presence on the field is what mattered though.
Number 31 was back on the pitch, carrying the ball into space in the midfield. Her longest drought without soccer since she first tied her youth-sized cleats was over. Not even a mid-week strep throat diagnosis could delay her return. She couldn’t wait any longer.
Rowe thought she was a different player. She had to take a step back mentally to allow herself to come back during her rehab. That approach might have translated onto the field as well.
“I’ve just been watching the team play constantly,” she said. “I don’t think I ever watched as much soccer as I did (after the surgery). I really just studied the game, studied my position.”
When the full time whistle blew, Rowe shook hands with Loyola players and her own teammates. Once pleasantries had been exchanged and the coaches had given their postgame debriefs, she headed over to the stands.
Dad was there waiting for her. He wasn’t going to miss his daughter’s first game back.
“He was smiling,” Rowe said. “He was super happy and excited.”
Jocelyn Rowe belongs on the soccer field. She’s back there now, and hopes to be a key contributor to Colgate’s push into the Patriot League Tournament and beyond.
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