The sudden clatter of water bottles and steel thermoses hitting the ground made Beau Whaling glance toward the sideline. What she glimpsed was Paige Tepedino by the bench, collecting herself, and Whaling immediately deduced what had happened.
But, before the split second in which some worry could’ve wafted over her, Tepedino was back inbounds and sprinting up the field.
“Acting like nothing happened,” Whaling said of her Rye girls lacrosse teammate, sounding amused and amazed. “I’ve seen her do it countless times.”
But this time, it made her teammates and coaches hold their breath.
Off the draw, the ball was inadvertently launched toward the sideline and well beyond the reach of anyone on the circle. And it was Tepedino who raced after it full speed, so much so that after the ball skipped out of bounds, she couldn’t stop her momentum quickly enough to keep from crashing hard into the bench.
The loud cacophony it created was an indicator of the force with which she collided with the immovable object.
There would’ve been concern for any player. But that moment of nervousness was made more intense because Tepedino had only recently been cleared for a return from injury. The senior was in her first week back after being sidelined almost a year with a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
“I want to put her in bubble wrap,” Garnets coach Michelle Mason said of that sequence in their May 5 game. “There was also a little collision in practice and we were all holding our breaths. And she’s like, ‘I’m good.’ Sometimes I have to remind myself that she’s not a dainty flower. She’s an absolute beast.”
And that’s what they love about her. Tepedino is a supremely talented athlete and a two-sport star whose abilities made her a coveted college prospect. But the USC commit carries the mindset of a player who lacks those gifts, whose success is reliant on hustle and persistence.
“She’s a grinder who does the dirty work for us,” the coach said glowingly. “She reads the play super well defensively, she’s got a high lacrosse IQ, and she’s instinctive. It’s so fun to watch.”
Along with her accomplishments and immense skill, there is a fearlessness, unwavering focus, and a willingness to barter discomfort for the betterment of her team. It’s why Tepedino is spoken about with reverence within the local lacrosse community. It’s why, despite knowing she would miss most of the regular season while still recuperating, Rye teammates still voted her a captain.
It’s also why when Tepedino scored a goal in her first game back on April 30, a blowout win, their reaction was one typically reserved for dramatic moments — perhaps a comeback victory. But then, that is precisely what this was.
“It was one of the happiest moments of my life,” said Tepedino, who worked diligently to rehab for 11 months to make it possible. “All my teammates hugged me and they were screaming. I won’t ever forget that.”
The addition and the aspirations
Her returning to the Garnets before the Section 1 playoffs is almost like an MLB title contender acquiring an elite pitcher at the trading deadline. Rye was already a great team, and now they’ve added an ace.
The midfielder is a defensive whiz whose speed and change of direction allow her to stick with even the elusive scorers, and whose instincts and aggressiveness often force turnovers. Her presence in the lineup allows the Garnets to tinker with their defensive schematics, Mason said. She also adds thump to a talented offense, moving without the ball, finding openings within a zone and being a weapon on drives and cuts.
She’s scored 17 goals in the seven games thus far, including three in a win over Pleasantville last Thursday.
Those are the tangibles. There’s also the morale boost, knowing how diligently she worked in the rehabilitation process and the emotional strife she overcame.
“She’s the grittiest and most selfless player I know,” said Whaling, a Duke-bound attack. “Whatever she’s doing, it’s always at 100%. Her foot is always on the pedal, and that pushes all of us to follow her lead.”
Rye went 12-4 against a regular-season schedule that featured several matchups with elite teams in the national spotlight. They beat teams by an average margin of 7.8 goals and their only loss in Section 1 was in an overtime thriller against rival Nyack.
Whaling, Annie Toulouse, Mary Ebeling and Mia Howson have sparked an explosive offense. The Garnets graduated most of their defense and midfield after reaching the Class C section final last season, but the newcomers have adapted to new roles and performed admirably.
Clare Nemsick anchors the defense alongside Coco Peters and sophomores Emma Pedone, Mackenzy Somerville and Lucy Wood. Freshman goalie Dylan Ehrlich has done well, and Peyton Leahy, Emma Gianetti and Rose Denvir are part of a promising midfield group that recently got an infusion of super-charged talent.
The Garnets will be heavily favored to win a section title and Tepedino’s addition to this roster could give them reason to believe a 2024-like run to the state final is possible.
“We’ve got big hopes and dreams for this postseason,” Mason said. “And it’s great to have Paige be part of it and not having to watch.”
‘Mentally, it’s so hard’
It was while making a move on the dodge during a practice with her club team that Tepedino heard the distinctive “pop” and felt a sharp pain in her right knee. She was diagnosed with a complete tear of the ACL and surgery followed two weeks later.
“That was the worst day of my life,” Tepedino said of June 15, when the MRI results revealed what was feared. “I couldn’t speak to anyone. I was just thinking about basketball. I was so excited about playing my senior year with a special team, and that was gone.”
Knee injuries are common in girls lacrosse with torn ACLs accounting for about 47% of them, according to the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine. But it often is emotionally crushing for a young athlete, being incapacitated for months, enduring a grueling rehabilitation process, and facing the reality of a year removed from the activities they were most invested in and passionate about.
“It was like, ‘Damn! This (stinks),’” Mason said of hearing the news. She has coached Tepedino from the start at the Rye Youth Lacrosse league and the two are close. “When you have an injury that sidelines you that long, it feels like you’ve lost a part of yourself when the thing you love so much is taken away. I had no doubt she’d come back from it physically, but I wanted to know that she was all right mentally.”
Tepedino grew up with three older brothers, each of whom was a decorated athlete, and that fostered a competitive environment at home. Even dinner, she said, was a race to see who could snag the best food item.
“Everything was about winning,” she said, “and that shaped how I appreciated sports.”
Paige had excelled from early, showing remarkable quickness and coordination even in elementary school, Mason said. She was promoted to the varsity lacrosse team as an eighth-grader and was immediately impactful. She also starred for the girls basketball team, helping them capture a section championship in 2025.
From that, to spending last autumn re-learning how to walk.
“I was locked in the (leg) brace for three months and on crutches,” Tepedino said. “I didn’t feel like myself all summer… Then, with physical therapy, you’re starting with the most basic things, and some days even that was a struggle. It felt like I wasn’t getting better. You don’t always see the progress, and that was really hard.”
It was the support of her parents, Kerry and Mike, and their positive reinforcement that carried her through what she described as “my worst days.” Coaches and teammates checked in regularly, and Whaling and Ebeling were a sounding board, often lifting her spirits.
“I always wanted her to talk to me and vent if she needed to,” Whaling said of Tepedino, her best friend since first grade. “Sometimes Paige, Mary and I would go to the turf to just talk. I know if the situation was reversed, she’d have been there for me.”
Tepedino also lauded her physical therapist, Shane Foley, for not only his work on her knee, but for helping to adjust her outlook. In time, as she began regaining mobility, physical therapy became a refuge, the place where she felt closest to being an athlete again.
“Shane made me understand that progress is being made, even when it’s not visible, and taught me how to be patient with it,” she said. “My focus was on finding the little wins each day, even if it was hard… I’ve tried to carry that over into life, being more positive and more appreciative of everything.”
The physical improvement was demonstrable after about six months, when she could begin jogging and feeling like an athlete again. Rehab continued, and her workouts intensified over the winter, hoping to rejoin the lacrosse team before its May 2 senior day game.
Tepedino eventually was cleared for a return on April 29. Teammates immediately marveled that her stickwork was noticeably better, and that she still was their fastest runner.
“I’m a better player now than I was a year ago,” Tepedino said. “I feel stronger, physically, and I think being away from sports for that long, I’m more excited than ever to be out there.”
She had four goals and caused a turnover in their senior day rout of New Canaan. More meaningful, still, was her first goal this season, that 8-meter free position shot against Briarcliff. Whaling tossed her stick in celebration, calling it “the best feeling in the world.”
“She’s got an amazing group of friends and awesome parents, and she put so much work and effort into getting back,” Mason said while getting choked up. “She deserves this.”
Stephen Haynes covers sports for The Journal News/lohud.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Paige Tepedino’s return from torn ACL gives Rye girls lacrosse a boost
Reporting by Stephen Haynes, Rockland/Westchester Journal News / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
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