Kelly Cross walked to the sideline and huddled around a team she was not a part of until a few weeks before.

In early February, the team had yet to play its first game, but preparation began by playing inter-squad scrimmages. Moments before, amid the shouts inside the Ensley Athletic Center, the senior assisted on a goal, distributing to players she’d known for years but hadn’t been teammates with in months.

The midfielder was indefinitely suspended for an unspecified violation of team rules in late March 2015. Four days before announcing her suspension, Cross was the driver of the car that crashed into the Mount Olympus steps. Cross was allowed to practice in the spring during her suspension, but couldn’t travel or play in games. By August, she was no longer enrolled at Syracuse.

“She’s gone through a lot,” assistant coach Regy Thorpe said. “We’re very proud of her. I think most people would maybe pack it in and transfer. She dug her cleats in and did her stuff off the field in the community that she needed to do to come back.”

About 13 hours before the crash, in one her best career games to that point, Cross scored a hat trick, picked up five ground balls and forced two turnovers at then-No. 7 Northwestern, which beat then-No. 5 Syracuse 11-10. After working to return to the place she was at before the suspension, Cross gets the chance to follow up last year’s performance when she sees the Wildcats again Sunday as No. 2 Syracuse (4-0) hosts No. 7 Northwestern (1-1) at noon.

In Cross’ return, she’s started only one of the team’s four games, but scored five goals and grabbed three groundballs. It’s a continuation of the success she saw in her first year contributing for the Orange as a junior. Before the suspension, she started all 11 games, scoring 14 goals and assisting on six, ranking fourth on the team in points.

“She came right back to where she was beforehand,” said teammate Riley Donahue. “She’s been very consistent, as she was last year.”

Cross declined an interview for this story. She is concentrating on moving forward, Cross said through an SU spokeswoman via email, and she’s focused on this season after addressing what happened and working through it with her family and teammates.

After the time off, coaches and teammates have seen her work hard to get to where she was before by running extra sprints and working outside of practice.

“You can train on your own but it’s not game speed,” Thorpe said. “The offense she knows. She’s got chemistry with the players. But now she’s getting herself into really good game shape.”

In her incremental improvements, she’s worked her way back to the player head coach Gary Gait calls one of his best midfielders. Her return, he said, strengthens the defense and scoring of his squad.

Through that extra work, both coaches said that Cross has developed into a vocal leader for the team. Donahue said Cross has brought “positive energy,” directed players both on the field and off and led a team that includes her sister, freshman Julie Cross.

“She’s going to increase our offensive and defensive output,” Gait said. “We’re expecting a lot out of her.”

Published on February 25, 2016 at 12:09 am

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