By Arianna Goenaga – Staff Reporter

Colleen and Catie Rice have been playing soccer together for 10 years.

The sisters have participated in every youth and high school season together, except for when they could not play after tearing their ACLs.

During her sophomore year, Catie Rice tore her ACL in a scrimmage against West Haven. She missed the rest of the soccer season and lacrosse season that year.

She still attended as many practices as she could after her surgery.

“I learned that you have to work for what you get and to not take anything for granted,” Catie Rice said.

She had to go to physical therapy every day for 6-8 months in order to recover. After physical therapy, once Catie was cleared to play again, she was required to wear a brace for the soccer season of her junior year.

Colleen Rice tore her ACL at the beginning of her junior year in her last summer league game against Lyman Hall.

“My previous season, sophomore year, I got MVP,” Colleen Rice said. “I was really determined to make a difference junior year so I was so crushed to have torn my ACL.”

Similar to her sister, Colleen Rice attended all of the practices and games that she could when she did not have physical therapy.

“She continued to show her love for the team by showing up and showed dedication to later get captain for her senior year,” senior fellow captain and teammate Kristen Passaro said.

Both Rice twins agree that the physical pain was a lot to handle. As for the mentality, it was also difficult to be set that far back and miss out on a season of their high school career.

“One of the hardest parts was watching my team and knowing I could not be out there with them for nine or more months,” Colleen Rice said. “But I put that pain towards recovering and regaining my muscle.”

Colleen Rice was on crutches for three months and finally got cleared to play soccer after nine months, returning to play on the team again this year.

“It was great to finally have Catie and Colleen together and back on the team for the first time since our freshman year,” said senior teammate Cassidy White. “They both seemed very determined to play to the best of their ability this year.”  

This was the Rice girls’ final year of soccer. Fully recovered from their ACL injuries, they had a successful season, even helping the team make it to the state tournament and receive a winning record. This was the second-best record for the girls soccer team since 1990.

Colleen Rice, who was originally a midfielder, adjusted to play defense when one of her teammates was injured this year. Catie Rice even scored the winning goal for the team this season in their win against Foran.

“Catie deserved to make that goal,” said teammate Kayla Baker. “And without it we would not have won against Foran.”

The Rice girls pushed through the pain and worked hard to make full comebacks and keep their head in the game. After both dealing with ACL injuries, they were able to have a successful last soccer season of their high school career.