“It was August 22, 2022, and that was the day my whole world turned upside down,” Senior Soccer Captain Megan Zhang captures the moment where she faced adversity with a game changing ACL injury.
During her sophomore year, the Lady Kingsmen took on the Homestead Spartans for a preseason scrimmage. As Zhang went in for a brutal tackle, she unfortunately managed to take an intense hit, tearing her ACL. Zhang described this moment as one of the most major and heartbreaking experiences.
“It was the worst day of my life,” Zhang said.
Zhang portrayed her injury as a grand obstacle. But, Zhang knew that the right mentality and hard work that would be put into rehabilitation would set her up for success in the near future.
It was a tough nine months. There were days where Zhang felt like giving up. But, the one thing that drove her back to greatness was her love of the sport. Zhang has been playing soccer ever since she was in elementary school. She knew in her heart that she had to keep pushing and fighting in order to bounce back from this terrible injury.
After a lengthy nine months, the rising junior prevailed, having a successful recovery. Her junior season, Zhang was a vital player on the Penn Girls Soccer team, creating several goal scoring opportunities, as well as finishing them. The midfielder held herself at a high standard, which helped her become a fantastic and important player.
Continuing to strive for greatness, Zhang has had a fantastic start to her senior season. Becoming a senior captain, Zhang used this title to help support each and every one of her teammates.
Junior teammate Ava Stevens added to this:
“Megan is such a positive person who I love to be around. She always encourages myself and others to strive for greatness. As we know, bouncing back from an injury is one of the toughest battles an athlete has to face both physically and mentally. But, Zhang used this to help her grow to be stronger physically and mentally, which has overall contributed to her becoming an even better soccer player,” Stevens said.
As Zhang grew from this experience facing injury, she has only proven herself as a stronger person than she was before.
Zhang said, “I often think of the saying that claims, you grow through what you go through. At first, it may seem silly. But, there is such a deep meaning behind this, one that I can see throughout my experience with injury, as well as in life.”
Building back up from an ACL injury can be tough, but Zhang attacked it head on. She proved herself to be one of the toughest kids, and one of the hardest working. Following this injury, Zhang proceeded to become a regular starter for the Kingsmen.
Zhang’s grit and determination doesn’t stop here. She hopes to go as far as the state championship for the 2024-25 season. She as well as her teammates believe that this is an achievable goal to reach for. With her support and attitude, Zhang will continue to lead this team until the end of her season.
