Caroline Stefans' final, unexpectedly extended, offseason as a defender in a Navy women's lacrosse uniform was all about making sure she answered the bell on opening day against visiting Duke.
 
A year had passed since Stefans' junior season had ended barely after it had begun, at Duke. During Navy's season-opening 15-10 loss to the Blue Devils, Stefans suffered a season-ending injury, a torn ACL in her right knee.
 
On February 9, before a home crowd at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Stefans officially answered the bell. And so did the rest of the Mids in an emotional10-9 victory that kick-started Navy's season. 
 
That opening day win was especially sweet for Stefans, the anchor of the defensive unit who scooped three ground balls, caused a turnover and proved she was ready to make up for lost time in her final season on a lacrosse field. 
 
"It was a big challenge to come back in time to play Duke again. Before the game, I was looking at our trainer and team manager wondering if I could do this," recalled Stefans, who was about to start the first game of her career.
 
"They told me, 'You're going to get knocked down again, and you're going to get up again,'" Stefans added. "Within the first couple of minutes, Duke threw a pass that I intercepted. I ran the ball down the field [to Navy's offensive end]. Then I was like 'All right, I'm doing this. Let's go. This is my season."
 
"The biggest thing with 'Stef' is her leadership," said Grace Peterson, a junior on Navy's defense, which has held opponents to single-digit scoring in each of the Mids' 10 wins.
 
"Last year, she wasn't even on the field and she was still one of our biggest leaders – being vocal on the sideline, giving us insight on how we can get better, just always stepping up to help us. It was fun watching her transition back to the field. She didn't even play fall ball [during the late phases of rehab]. But that day against Duke, she was the best defender out there."
 
Following that opening victory, Stefans was named Patriot League Defender of the Week for the first time. She has been recognized three times by the league this season.
 
"Caroline is just a tough competitor and defender. She's a great communicator on the field with a great lacrosse IQ," said Cindy Timchal, Navy's 18^th-year head coach. "It was important for her to find her niche while she wasn't able to play, which is always a bummer. What a journey she has had."
 
The journey took a painful turn 14 months ago, after a collision with Duke attacker Katie DiSimone sidelined Stefans, who already had experienced an ACL injury in her left knee.
 
The first injury happened in the fall of 2018, during her junior year at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, while Stefans was playing club lacrosse as a two-way midfielder for prestigious Florida Select.
 
"I had been through [the injury] before, but the second time was different since I could not walk for four weeks following my surgery last year. The mental burden was worse," Stefans said.
 
Navy associate head coach Gabby Capuzzi-Solomon, who returned to Annapolis last summer after three years as associate head coach at her alma mater Ohio State, originally recruited Stefans during her first successful tenure (2015-20) as an assistant and associate head coach with the Mids.
 
"When I arrived back in Annapolis in August, one of the best things I saw was that [Stefans] was not going to let that injury define her senior year or season," Capuzzi-Solomon said. "She knew she was going to be back on the field for Duke and was doing all the work needed to get there. She has a no-quit mentality."
 
"[Stefans] was a great midfielder in high school, but she found her home here on the defensive side. She communicates very well off-ball, directs the traffic in our zone and man-to-man [schemes], and has those intangibles. She makes the gritty, scrappy, hustle plays you need to win [such as] getting the ball off the ground among six people around our crease and getting it out of there."
 
Stefans, who has started every game this season, leads Navy with 13 caused turnovers and has picked up 20 ground balls, tied for second-best on the team. She looks back at her unusual 2023 experience with an appreciation of her teammates' support.
 
She also recalled how John McClain, her coach at Florida Select, offered her a chance to coach a travel team while she was healing from that first injury and learning the game on a higher level.
 
"I loved it – coaching defense, watching lots of film, telling [the players] what I thought," she said. "A different side of the game a lot of girls never get to see."
 
And Stefans, who first picked up a lacrosse stick in fifth grade and said goodbye to soccer soon after, can look back at last year with a sense of humor.
 
"There were some minor setbacks. In the beginning, my body felt at times like it had been hit by a bus," Stefans said. "I sometimes feel like I have the knees of a 50-year-old. I need extra warmup time before practices and games. I call myself, "Grandma."
 
"Caroline is one who is going to make lemonade out of lemons. Her personality is being a leader," said Lisa Stefans, Caroline's mother. "She was never a follower, didn't like hanging out at the mall with the group. She'd rather stay on the straight and narrow. She knew she wanted to go to Navy, play lacrosse, serve her country. As a parent, it was impressive to see how she saw her future."
 
Stefans will not forget the day she was cleared to play lacrosse again – for one last season – in December. She also punctuated her comeback that month by participating with members of the Naval Academy's 13^th Company in the traditional Army-Navy Ball Run.
 
Before the 124^th edition of the legendary, annual football game, with some 200 Midshipmen included in the trip, it took four days for a succession of Mids to carry a game ball 8-to-12 miles at a time, from Annapolis to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. – a record total of 456 miles across seven states, since the tradition commenced in the 1980s.
 
Stefans had the honor of being first out of the Yard, for a 9.5-mile run, heading north on Governor Richie Highway. She proudly recalls averaging just under 10 minutes per mile. Not bad, considering where she started in the early spring of '23.
 
"I was running a couple of miles at a time at that point, but never anything that far. It was awesome having my company mates there supporting me and a few of my lacrosse teammates [defenders Morgan Lewis and Jaclyn Johns and goalie Emma Richardell]," Stefans said.
 
"When I came back to the Yard after Christmas break in January, my thinking was that I am ready for practice. I had just run 9.5 miles, what can't I do? After I got hurt, I had to mentally get over this mountain. Look at me now. I did it."  

#21 Navy (10-3, 4-1 in the Patriot League) and Army (6-6, 4-1) will meet in the annual Star game on Saturday at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. First draw is at 4:15 PM and admission is free. The game will also be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network.