Senior boys soccer player Braxton Lawhorn remembers his junior season when he stood on the sideline of a Lafayette soccer game and watched his teammates play.
“It was hard to see everybody do something I wanted to do so bad,” Lawhorn said.
Lawhorn suffered a severe knee injury in May of his sophomore year causing him to miss his junior seasons for his high school and club soccer teams.
Attempting to steal the ball from an opponent, Lawhorn’s knee collided with the other player. He then dislocated his kneecap, shattered his patella in 13 places and tore his ACL.
Lawhorn mentioned his teammates, seniors James Kolb and Sam Kalish, who helped him during his injury.
“Having friends like them to keep me going, keep me on track and always motivate me means so much to me,” Lawhorn said, “I wanted to come back for them.”
Kalish always pushed Lawhorn to do his best for his recovery mentally and physically.
“Whenever he needed a shoulder to lean on I was always there,” Kalish said.
After undergoing 14 months of active physical therapy and missing a year of soccer, Lawhorn came back to continue his career.
As a defender, Lawhorn has been a key player so far this season. This year, Lafayette’s defense has allowed an average of 1.2 goals per game and their record stands at 11-6.
“You could already tell from the first few games [Lawhorn] has had a major impact on the team,” Kalish said, “He brings a good voice and he’s a very good player.”
Boys soccer head coach Ryan Butchart has been Lawhorn’s coach since sophomore year.
“It was one of the most nasty knee injuries I’ve seen and now [Lawhorn] is fully back.” Butchart said. “He’s a guy that is a big part of our team.”
Lawhorn speaks on why he decided to continue his soccer career.
