ST. LEO, Fla. – Six minutes may not seem like much to most people, but for Hamilton, Ontario’s Greg Love it means his long trek back from multiple injuries is paying off.
The freshman midfielder entered the Saint Leo Lions’ game vs. Montevallo on March 2, playing wrap-up time in a 22-12 victory.
A personal victory in itself for someone who nearly thought of quitting.
“By the third (most serious) injury I thought I was done with sports, it took a real toll on me,” said the midfielder, last Friday at Saint Leo. “I didn’t think I was going to be able to come here and do what I can do.”
It was Love’s senior year at Ancaster High Secondary School where he suffered a serious injury playing for the football team. That caused a one-year delay in the start of his NCAA lacrosse career.
He finally arrived at the Florida campus last fall.
“I dislocated my shoulder, tore my top, front and back labrum, and dented my rotator cuff as well,” he said. “It sucked … it was hard trying to get back into shape because it took a toll on my body.”
Nonetheless, the Canadian has a positive outlook on his season and has a good relationship with head coach Brad Jorgensen.
“The coach is talkative with me, he’s been great to me,” Love said.
As for the freshman’s role on the team, he thinks it will be to “put my head down, work hard, do my best at practices and I’ll get the playing time that I want.”
When choosing where to go for university he didn’t feel a strong connection with the other options as he did with Saint Leo. He wanted to go south and figured if he was headed that direction, he’d settle in Florida.
“I met the guys (at Saint Leos) there were a lot of Canadians here, so I felt at home here,” said Love.