Katie Enrietto had never faced an injury more serious than a sprained ankle, so when she tore her anterior cruciate ligament during her senior season at Loyola, ending her final girls lacrosse season, it was something the Winnetka resident had never experienced.

The injury kept the now-University of Notre Dame sophomore sidelined until the following lacrosse season, her first as a collegiate player. In fact, she wasn’t fully cleared to play until the preseason. 

“It was amazing,” Enrietto said about her return to the field. “I felt like I had been … Everyone always talks about the transition to the college game. I felt that the speed and intensity at the college game didn’t surprise me. I was ready for that. The biggest area of growth for me was managing everything in rehab for my ACL, and then also just learning how to be a college freshman.”

Choosing the South Bend, Ind. school was an easy one for Enrietto, as she was a legacy at the school. Her mom and aunt went there and her grandpa and uncle both hold multiple degrees from the school as well. 

“I had always grown up around Notre Dame,” she said. “Then as I started visiting schools, it had everything I wanted in a college. It was far enough away from home, but at the same time, it’s only an hour and a half drive away. It’s a Catholic school, which was really important to me. It’s at the top in both academics and athletics. 

“At the end of the day, Notre Dame is really about community. There’s nothing like the Notre Dame family. From the moment you step on campus the first week of freshman year, it’s a tangible feeling.”

Enrietto said she didn’t even think she was going to get an offer from the school until a conversation with the coach, which she thought was going to go the other way, ended with the coach offering the former Loyola star a spot on the squad.

Transitioning to the college game, as well as having to deal with rehab from a major injury and trying to adjust to college life can be difficult, more so than for students who don’t face the rigors of being a collegiate athlete.

The time off though helped her become a better player and help her adjust faster than she thought she would have, She also felt that it helped her grow both as a player and a person.

“I think that my growth came in two different areas. I think one was being out for so long that really it becomes a mental game. It was just learning that mental toughness,” she said. “Second, I had to breakdown every little step, over and over again. With an ACL tear, you have to relearn how to walk, and then you relearn how to run. Also, I had to break my game down into little pieces and just keep building. I really had to re-learn all the fundamentals. 

“I think that actually, in the end, helped me, and I came back with quicker feet, and I was better at different feet exercises. Then I just had to focus on stick work because since it was my left leg … When you throw a lacrosse ball, you step with your opposite leg. For probably four, four and half months, I couldn’t should with my right hand. It just forced me to have my stick in my left hand.”

Enrietto, who was fifth on the team with 16 goals scored this past season, is studying neuroscience and French with hopes to be a doctor, something she never really saw herself as when younger.

“I never wanted to go into the medical field,” she said. “Then I got to honors biology my junior year of high school. I was like, ‘Oh, I really like this.’ Then I decided senior year, I took AP Bio. From there, I just loved learning about it, and I didn’t want to stop. It’s just grown from there.”

Enrietto and the Fighting Irish start fall ball Saturday, Sept. 29, with a game against Michigan, where she will face former Loyola teammates and includes games in October against Marquette and Northwestern, both of whom also feature former Loyola teammates as well.

Story published Sept. 26, 2018