UNLV women’s soccer player Susie Bernal was practicing in some shooting over the summer, but what was supposed to be a simple soccer move turned into disaster for the junior. “I just heard three pops on the way down,” Bernal said. “And once I was on the ground, I knew.” Bernal’s season was over before it even began after tearing her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), while also suffering a lateral meniscus tear and spraining her medial collateral ligament (MCL) in May. “I tried to do this move which is a common move that everyone does, but my knee just gave out,” Bernal said. Bernal headed into her junior year looking like one of the players that the Rebels were going to rely upon to propel last season’s momentum into. She was coming off of a sophomore season in which she was one of only six players to appear in all 21 games, and she started 20 of those. Her six assists put her second on the team and third in the Mountain West Conference. “This is my first ever major injury in my whole 12 years of playing,” Bernal said. “It is definitely my biggest injury.” Teammate Denali Murnan knows something about major injuries after a broken elbow just four games into last year forced her to miss the rest of the season. “It was devastating,” Murnan said. “It was my junior year, and I wasn’t sure at the time if I was going to get that year back with a red shirt. There were a few really tough days trying to cope. It was the toughest thing ever.” Murnan knows how tough of a year it might be for Bernal having experienced it herself, but she is encouraged by what she has seen from her teammate up to this point. “She is handling it really well, a lot better than I think a lot of people would,” Murnan said. “She’s out here every morning with us, and encouraging us and it’s a good spirit to have out there with us.” Just a few months removed from the injury, Bernal is still trying to get comfortable with her movement. She’s not nearly at the point she would like to be at yet, but she has seen some good signs. “Things are getting better, I’m doing rehab,” Bernal said, “I’m getting stronger, my leg is still really skinny, but I feel myself getting stronger.” Although she can’t be on the field, the junior midfielder want’s to do everything the team is doing. Whether it is coming to early morning practices, picking up balls or just giving the team encouragement when they need it. Bernal also knows that supporting the team as much as she can will help ease the transition for her and her teammates when she is ready to return. Until that time happens she is going to do whatever it takes to make sure the season is a successful one. “It’s hard watching the games sometimes,” Bernal said, “But I want to be apart of the team, and to let them know I’m here for them.”
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