Goalkeeper Returns After Wrist Injury Sidelined Her Most Of Last Season

As the hard-hit soccer ball slammed into Ashley Fonseca’s left hand and her wrist bent backwards, she felt minimal pain.

“I thought I tweaked my wrist,” Fonseca recalls.  

The 5-foot-7 goalkeeper peeled off her gloves, iced her wrist and sat out the rest of practice. 

“I went to urgent care. When I got there, they told me it was just a sprain,” she said. “I was like, okay, cool. A sprain means a week off, nothing crazy.” 

But a week later, the pain didn’t subside. Fonseca decided to see a hand specialist and an MRI revealed her worst nightmare—a fractured wrist.  

“The doctor just nod[ed] and [said], you have a fractured wrist, so you’ll need to wear a cast for six weeks,”’ said the 20-year-old whose freshman campaign with the Lady Sharks ended after three games due to the injury. “As soon as he said that, I just started crying. I was crying and crying. I couldn’t believe it.”

A year later, Fonseca is back on the soccer field, leading the way for the Lady Sharks, who are 3-4-2 on the young season. She has allowed one goal or less in five of the seven games she has played, including two shutouts, and has 26 saves. 

“She’s so athletic, she’s very strong, she has technique, she understands the game, which is huge,” Lady Sharks assistant coach Mario Concha said. “She’s one of the players I think can go on to the next level.”

But the journey to get Fonseca back on the field was a strenuous one. 

Her rehab lasted eight weeks. It included stem cell therapy three times a week to help repair damaged tissues, rehab four times a week including heat therapy to loosen up the muscles so she could regain mobility and elastic band exercise to rebuild muscle.   

In addition, Fonesca iced the wrist to prevent swelling. 

Paolo Frassino, the Lady Sharks goalkeeper coach, made sure she stayed in tip-top shape. 

“He was my biggest supporter during that time. He’d stay after practice to train me, run conditioning with me, and push me to stay dedicated,” Fonseca said. “We’d do treadmill cycles, jogging, sprinting, jogging again and tons of gym work to strengthen my legs and shoulders.”  

She was willing to sacrifice the time because soccer has been Fonseca’s passion since she was 5. The youngster started as a defender but moved to goalie when she hit a growth spurt at 10. 

“Growing up, I was one of the tallest kids on my teams because I sprouted up quickly, so I stood out,” Fonseca said. “My coach at the time decided to throw me in goal, and I picked it up right away. Honestly, it felt natural. I wouldn’t say it was ‘meant to be,’ but it runs in the family—my dad was a goalkeeper too.” 

Protecting the net is the family business. Fonseca’s dad, Gustavo, was a goalkeeper at Coral Gables Senior High School who earned the nickname El Gato for his deft goalkeeping skills. Her grandfather, Jose, was a goalie for the Honduran national team.

Fonseca, who has played on the Honduran junior national team, was a multi-sport athlete at Immaculata-La Salle High School, playing softball and soccer. By her junior season she was a team captain on the soccer squad and colleges were clamoring for her services.

She received interest from Florida Atlantic University, Florida Gulf Coast University and Florida International University. 

Fonseca committed to FGCU, but decommitted, she said, because they didn’t offer her enough money to cover her full tuition. 

“I was stuck,” Fonseca said. “I didn’t know if I was going to play college soccer anymore.” 

Eventually, she landed back on her feet at MDC. Last year, despite the wrist injury she became a vocal leader, giving players tips from the sidelines during halftime and water breaks, often fighting the urge to rush onto the field.

Fonseca, who has been a team captain the past two years, cherishes her role as a leader. Last year, she made it a tradition to pick up new players from the airport to build an instant bond.

“She has been very good as a captain,” said Eva Cova, a sophomore forward for the Lady Sharks. “I feel like in certain times of the game, we need someone that can be a little strict and honest with us about how we are and what we need to fix, and she gives us all of that.”

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