Resilient Dixmont native and former John Bapst High School of Bangor soccer and basketball star Abby Pyne, the backup goalkeeper for the national runner-up Duke University women’s soccer team, underwent a sixth surgery on her left knee on Dec. 23 at Duke University Hospital in Durham, North Carolina.
The redshirt freshman is facing another major surgery, this one on her right knee, sometime next year. Her career could very well be over but Pyne said don’t count her out just yet even though she expects to be sidelined for two years.
“I seem to have a knack for proving people wrong. I don’t think the competitive side of me will ever be satisfied. Who knows what could happen in two years?” the 19-year-old Pyne said from her Durham hotel room on Monday night.
“But, for right now, my focus is to get to the point where I can walk around campus comfortably,” added Pyne who pointed out that she had the surgery because the “bone structure in both knees is wrong” which requires reconstructive surgery to prevent cartilage damage.
If she returns in two years, she will have at least one year of eligibility remaining and possibly two. From the day a student-athlete first attends a college, they have five years in which to complete four years of eligibility. But some have received a sixth year based on medical circumstances.
Pyne had finally returned to the field this fall after being sidelined for more than two years after undergoing a major surgery on Sept. 23, 2013, to repair severely torn knee cartilage.
That was followed by an 18-month healing period and she was a medical redshirt at Duke in 2014.
She made her debut on Aug. 21, making one save on three shots during a 5-0 victory over Fresno State. She appeared in two other games, both wins.
Sophomore E.J. Proctor played all of the other minutes and led the Blue Devils to a 14-6-5 campaign that ended with a 1-0 loss to Penn State in the NCAA championship game in Cary, North Carolina.
Pyne said she has been overwhelmed by the support she has received.
“All of my teammates have written me a letter. Reading those has been awesome. And my mother has given up her Christmas to be here with me. One thing young athletes learn when they get to college is that their parents are amazing,” said Pyne, the daughter of John and Sandra Pyne.
She will retain her scholarship and will stay involved with the team in some way.
She already has begun her rehabilitation.
Despite her surgeries, she remains upbeat and still considers herself “incredibly blessed” and feels it is a “blessing in disguise. You can always find a positive in any situation. I am at an incredible institution and this has been, hands down, the best team culture I have ever been a part of.”