Temple women’s soccer forward Milana D’Ambra retires after career-long battle with knee injuries

Temple senior forward Milana D’Ambra announced her retirement from soccer Tuesday after a five-year battle with knee injuries.

D’Ambra, who posted a heartfelt message on Instagram, joined the Owls with high hopes but hit a number of roadblocks along the way. All told, D’Ambra played 10 games and scored one goal in four seasons at Temple.

“Despite battling a 5 year knee injury, I can easily say these past couple of years have been the best of my life,” she said in her Instagram post. “I’ve learned so much about myself, and I’m so grateful to have the most amazing people surrounding me, putting a smile on my face every step of the way.”

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D’Ambra’s injury issues started before her senior year of high school, when she suffered a patella dislocation during a club soccer game that left a hole under her knee because of cartilage damage.

The surgical procedure to fix this hole was considered experimental. At first, insurance didn’t cover the surgery, so doctors removed broken pieces of cartilage during a clean-up surgery. But after nine months of rehab, D’Ambra still experienced persistent pain during workouts.

D’Ambra underwent the experimental surgery before her freshman season at Temple in hopes of a long-term fix. Pieces of D’Ambra’s tibia were removed to stabilize her patella and tighten ligaments. Doctors also used stem cells to repair the missing cartilage.

D’Ambra had two more surgeries over a two-year span to repair these issues while in college. Eight months ago, she had screws removed from her tibia to ease pain.

At the conclusion of this fourth operation, she expected to return to full health. Yet expectations of a return were delayed as she missed 12 of 16 games this fall because of calf, quad, and hamstring issues.

“There is no way to sugarcoat the fact that she’s had no luck at all when it comes to injuries,” Temple coach Nick Bochette said. “She is someone who’s done everything right, everything she was supposed to [do], and then some, and had stumbling block after stumbling block in terms of injuries.”

D’Ambra comes from a soccer family. Her father, Don, has coached men’s soccer at St. Joe’s for 13 years, and her sister, Kylie, played four years with the Hawks. In fact, her lone collegiate goal came in a 3-0 win over St. Joe’s on Sept. 9, 2021. It was special for D’Ambra to score at Sean Sweeney Field, where she grew up watching soccer.

From his coaching experience, Don D’Ambra understood the challenges of athletes coming back from multiple surgeries.

“As a parent, it’s been very upsetting just to see she hasn’t been healthy enough to really compete to get on the field,” he said.

Although she struggled with daily knee pain, mental fatigue weighed more on D’Ambra’s well-being.

“Honestly, mentally [recovering] is a whole different battle than physically [recovering] because you can do a lot for yourself physically to get back,” D’Ambra said. “You can strengthen [your muscles] and do all your rehab … but mentally, it is very exhausting. It is frustrating. It can be really hard to see the positives when it seems like things are constantly not going your way.”

D’Ambra’s absence also was felt by teammates when she missed practice for physical therapy or doctor’s appointments.

From the sidelines, D’Ambra supported the Owls with loud cheers and words of encouragement. Although she only played in a few games, D’Ambra proved to be important to the team’s morale.

“We can always hear her on the bench, no matter [what],” sophomore defender Róisín McGovern said. “Then, you talk to her after the game, and her voice is gone because she can’t talk because she’s been screaming so loud.”

While she put on a tough exterior, those closest to D’Ambra remember the low points. Included in that support group is her longtime boyfriend Brenden Aaronson, a Medford-born former Union star who now plays for Leeds United in the English Premier League.

Aaronson remembers D’Ambra crying some nights and feeling disappointed, but she remained courageous.

“She has taught me so much,” Aaronson said. “I think just how strong she is. I kind of look back at it sometimes and I am like, ‘If I am going through something, I know at that time Milana, she was going through something worse.”

D’Ambra expects each setback to serve as a lesson that can be applied to life after soccer.

“I would definitely say prioritize your mental health over everything, and don’t think if you are upset about what you are going through, that means you are not strong,” D’Ambra said.