Don't shed any tears for Johnson; she didn't and she's back on the field.

Byline: Shawn Miller The Register-Guard

ELMIRA - Sarah Johnson did NOT cry when she tore her anterior cruciate ligament last spring.

The girl she collided with during an indoor soccer game did, but Johnson didn't shed a tear.

"She cried. I didn't cry, OK," Johnson, a junior at Elmira, said emphatically, covering up her sarcasm with a giggle and a giant smile.

In fact, Johnson went to a winter formal that same night and even danced, or hobbled. Either way, likely looking better than most of the contestants on the television show "So You Think You Can Dance."

"I had a dress, I had to go," she said with a laugh.

That doesn't mean there weren't plenty of tissue boxes lying around the Johnson residence in the coming days.

After finding out her soccer season was likely lost because of the injured left knee, Johnson lost control of her emotions for a week, and then some.

"When I found out I tore my ACL and couldn't play soccer, it was so hard," she said. "It was the worst ever. I cried for so long ... a week and then it was (in) spurts."

The injury occurred when Johnson and an opponent collided while jockeying for position on the ball, sending both to the turf at Kick City in Springfield. On the way to the ground, Johnson said she heard a loud crack, but felt no pain.

"It wasn't even like a big deal," she said. "I just got up, went out, got some stretches and tried to play again. But it kept giving out on me; I couldn't sprint. We figured something was bad."

Two days and a school dance later, Johnson went to the doctor who told her that her junior year of sports - she also plays basketball and runs track - would likely be replaced by physical therapy.

Senior forward Michelle Sconce, who along with Johnson is one of the five team captains, thought the season would have a different tone for the Falcons.

"It was a shock," Sconce said. "We all knew recovery is always hard."

Elmira coach Scott Shannon had planned to build the team around Johnson, arguably his top player. Instead, he was informed by a handful of his players that it was time for a new plan.

"You can't quote what I said after that," said Shannon, who tore his left ACL in 1985 while wrestling in college.

He was relegated to swapping injury stories and offering emotional support during health class, which Johnson was a student in, during spring term.

"I was able to talk her through it a little bit," Shannon said. "Of course, everything that I was able to say was wrong because it's completely different now.

"Technology has come far. ACL surgery anymore is just like getting scoped."

Johnson, whose injury occurred in mid-February, was forced to begin the healing process slowly.

First, she had to wait for the swelling to dissipate. Then, she had to see a specialist before her surgery finally occurred on April 2, nearly a month and a half after the injury.

It took her two weeks before she was able to walk, twice the average time it takes to begin walking after the surgery. However, that is where the discouraging signs ended.

"I wasn't even out of bed the first week," she said. "It was a slow start, and then just, boom."

Within a month, she regained complete flexibility in her knee.

"We thought I'd for sure be missing half, probably the entire season," Johnson said. "I was just going to try to work, make sure it healed really strong so that I could play my senior season. The physical therapist told me the more work I do, the faster it would heal. It's really a strength thing. So I did weights every day. And I did pool (work) every day."

Beginning two weeks after the surgery, roughly the same time she was able to walk, Johnson spent her time every other day on weight machines - emphasizing squats, hamstrings, calves - and by running and walking in a pool. Not to mention the "weird" stretches.

Gradually, an appointment every other day turned into twice a week and later once a week. However, Johnson went to CourtSports nearly every day from the time she was healthy enough after surgery until Aug. 6 - the first day of voluntary soccer workouts - when she was cleared to participate in soccer.

After being switched from a forward to midfielder to fit Shannon's scheme, Johnson has played the entire season thus far, even netting a hat trick against Creswell early in the league schedule.

"After the end of last season, I wanted to build the team around her and as many touches on the ball as I can get her," Shannon said. "We might sacrifice a little bit of her knack around the goal up front to distributing (the ball). But she can also hit the ball from 40 yards out. We always kid her (that) the closer to the goal she gets, the worse she gets."

And the tougher the circumstances, one thing is certain: Johnson will respond without a cry.