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Charly Bruder made her season debut in UNC field hockey’s lineup just one week ago.
After sustaining an upper body injury in the spring, uncertainty loomed over if she would play her junior season.
The junior forward missed the pair of ACC-Big Ten tournament games, not quite 100 percent yet.
But on Friday night, she dashed across the field of Karen Shelton Stadium, scoring a team-high two goals en route to No. 2 UNC field hockey’s 5-0 defeat of App State in North Carolina’s home opener. The junior forward led North Carolina’s offensive onslaught once again with her 13th career multi-goal game.
“It’s just great to see her back out there, to no surprise making an impact right away and putting the ball away. But also not even just on the score sheet, her influence on the play in many ways,” head coach Erin Matson said. “And she looks like herself.”
Upon receiving the news of Bruder’s injury, her teammates were devastated. After playing with her for four years in the U.S. program, University of Virginia transfer and senior forward Dani Mendez looked forward to joining Bruder at UNC.
“When she told me that she was possibly redshirting, my heart sunk a little bit,” senior forward Dani Mendez said. “I was really sad.”
But Bruder had been there before: she suffered a core muscle injury prior to last season. This time, she knew exactly what she had to do.
Over the summer, Bruder wasn’t allowed to run, but she walked and did bike workouts to stay in shape. She did as much physical therapy as she could, leaning on her doctors and teammates so she could return as quickly as possible.
Mendez was by her side during her entire rehab process. She said Bruder spent her time on the sideline being her teammate’s biggest cheerleader, always putting others before herself.
“When I felt finally good, I was like all right, I got this,” Bruder said. “I have the support system that I’m just gonna work as hard as I can to get back out there for my team.”
Bruder was cleared just in time for UNC’s trip to New Jersey for the Conference Crossover. In her first game back against Penn, she exploded for two goals, even in limited minutes.
Back in Chapel Hill, Bruder wasted no time to make an impact.
With under a minute remaining in the first quarter, first-year midfielder Sylvie Notine slid a lateral swipe to Bruder, who sprinted to the middle of the circle for a straight shot to put North Carolina up by two.
And Bruder didn’t stop there.
To end the second, first-year back Isabel Boere launched a lengthy pass from behind midfield to senior forward Ryleigh Heck at the right corner of the post, who eluded her defender with a backwards pass.
Bruder, perched in prime position at the top of the shooting circle, tapped the ball in for the easy score. 4-0, Tar Heels.
“I feel like I’m still brushing some dust off, but if I take it every minute at a time and just forget about mistakes and just stop thinking and [have a] ‘don’t think, just do’ kind of mindset, I feel like I can kind of get to where I left off,” Bruder said.
And where she left off was being last year’s national leader in goals, a First-Team All-American and the ACC Tournament MVP — now with four goals in just three games.
Now back on the field, Bruder still takes it game by game, quarter by quarter and step by step — just like in her recovery.
“Just remembering my circumstances and that it’s okay to mess up at the end of the day,” Bruder said. “Everyone’s still gonna be there to support me and nobody’s gonna remember the mistake I made. They’re going to remember how I worked my butt off to get the ball back.”
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