As North Carolina men’s soccer forward Andy Craven recovers from a strained hamstring he suffered earlier this season, coach Carlos Somoano said he worries that fear of another injury is lingering in the back of Craven’s mind.
Craven has torn both his left and right hamstrings during the last three years, and his injuries kept him out of 10 of 18 games last season when he played at the College of Charleston.
Somoano said while Craven’s health continues to improve, the forward is weary of another injury.
“He’s pretty healthy and pretty close right now,” Somoano said. “I just think psychologically he’s going to have to get comfortable with it. He can’t play out of fear of being injured again.”
Though Craven might be tentative testing his hamstrings while making runs, when the ball is on his foot in the attacking end, he lets it fly and leads the team with 29 shots, which have yielded four goals.
When Craven first arrived at UNC in the spring after transferring from the College of Charleston, he aggravated the injury, sidelining him for some of the Tar Heels’ spring and summer workouts.
Craven said setbacks that have caused him to miss more time than he had expected have tested him the most.
“When you’re getting better and getting healthy, you kind of see yourself coming back at certain times,” Craven said. “When you’re not ready to come back at that time, it’s really hard, mentally, to be focused and stick to what you’re doing and to stay motivated to do it.”
The Tar Heels lost five of their top six scorers from 2011, and the team has struggled to generate offense at times with forward Rob Lovejoy out due to injury.
Now that Lovejoy has returned, scoring the Tar Heels’ first hat trick since 2009 in his season debut against the College of Charleston on Saturday night, Craven could help form a formidable 1-2 punch.
Somoano said he is hesitant to play Craven when the Tar Heels have two games in one week but hopes that could change as the season progresses.
“When we get a midweek break off, then he comes back flying,” Somoano said “Hopefully, down the stretch he gets to 100 percent physically and mentally, and then I won’t have any hesitation putting him on the field for any amount of time.
“He’s a game-changer.”
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