Two small scars on her left knee are all that remain. The only remnants left to remind Marcy Kolongowski of a day almost exactly one year ago.

She has more on her mind these days, such as having to worry about the opponent on the lacrosse field, not a pile of weights in a training room. It's been exactly a year and two days since she had her left knee surgically reconstructed, a torn anterior cruciate ligament the culprit. Now, Kolongowski is back.

A 14-4 victory over Drexel on Saturday afternoon served as the backdrop. Her teammates cheered as she entered the game, when she had the ball, as she took a shot, even as she was being questioned during a post-game interview. She never scored in the game but came close. She would say later that she was trying too hard, adding that it just felt great to be out on the field again.

"I was so excited just to even put on my uniform today," Kolongowski said.

She expected to be back in January for preseason practices, but just as the knee injury felt better, it was her back that failed her. Two herniated disks along with the knee injury had kept her sidelined until Saturday.

Kolongowski didn't even find out until game day that she had the medical clearance to play. Ironically, she hadn't practiced until Thursday, March 31 -- a year to the date of the reconstructive surgery.

Playing in Saturday's game was a reward of sorts. A reward for a year of rehab. Countless hours of strengthening and working out her knee, just to be able to walk, let alone play again. After the first few months she was encouraged -- that was when the improvements in her condition were most visible. It was after the initial progression showed that frustration began to set in.

"I hit a point, I guess around four or five months where you don't really see as much progress," Kolongowski said. "I got really down on myself because I didn't see progress so I stopped working as hard. That's not good when that happens."

What did happen was an overflow of support -- from everyone. Her family, her friends, her teammates, her doctors all helped make the rough hours of rehab more bearable.

"I think if I were anywhere other than Penn State, I probably would have quit," Kolongowski said, "because I had quit in my own mind. But everyone around me kept helping me out, kept saying, 'You can do it.' "

Women's Lacrosse Coach Julie Williams was one of those pillars of strength for Kolongowski. While the coach admits her player is a bit rusty, she adds that it will only be a matter of time before she gets back into the flow of things.

After what Kolongowski has already been through, Williams doesn't expect the junior to quit now.

"It's been horrendous. The poor child has been through so much," Williams said. "She has had to remain very patient. I'll tell 'ya, not many people could do what she's done."