Beilman was ready. She had finally recovered from her ACL tear, and had the green light to return to sports. Her first game back was a tournament at Rutgers University. Everyone around her, including her parents, her coach, and her teammates were nervous. But Beilman was thrilled. It had been too long that she was cooped up, and she had been anticipating this moment for months.

When she finally stepped on the court, everyone held their breath. In the first play, she was running and tripped, sending a wave of fear through the crowd. Everyone was frozen at the sight of Beilman on the floor.

But Beilman just stood up, dusted herself off, and said, “Yep, I’m good!” This little incident made her realize she was going to have to work on her balance. But she was not shaken; she was ready to get back in the swing of things.

Taryn Tabano was sold from the first time she met Beilman. It was shortly after Beilman had healed from her injury, and she was weeks into her eighth grade lacrosse season. The then assistant varsity coach of Glen Rock High School’s girls’ lacrosse team, Taryn Tabano, was talking with the head coach, Karen Mackie, after a game.

Karen pointed out Beilman on the field, practicing her shots. She told Tabano of Beilman’s great talent, her commitment to the sport, and how she would be an incoming freshman the next year.

Beilman came off the field and was formally introduced to Tabano. The athlete explained that she had just finished a game against Ridgewood, and she had missed some right-handed shots, so she had been practicing taking shots right-handed for the past two hours.

“What an incredible young woman,” Tabano said. “I didn’t need to see her playing in a game, I didn’t need to see her running line drills; I just knew that second that she was going to be an impact player for Glen Rock High School.”

Tabano admired Beilman’s “sheer devotion to physically go out and practice that one thing… that she couldn’t rest until she got [it] out of her system.”

This is the same story that Tabano, now the girls’ head varsity coach, would tell a few years later to college lacrosse coaches when Beilman was being recruited.

Beilman’s freshman year in lacrosse, Glen Rock played some very difficult teams. According to Tabano, they were “playing programs like Mountain Lakes and Ridgewood… basically teams that don’t have a single player on the field that isn’t going to a top ten Division 1 program.” Glen Rock High School’s program, on the other hand, consisted mostly of underclassmen.

It was a difficult year for the program, but it turned out to be a winning season.

Although the season was tough for everyone, it was especially tough for Beilman. She had missed so much during her injury, and now she not only had to transition back to playing in general, but she also had to come back and be ready to play on a high school level. This was going to be hard, physically and mentally. But that would not stop Beilman. She just remembered one of the many inspirational quotes her mother had told her when she first tore her ACL: “The struggle you’re in today is developing the strength you need for tomorrow.”

In the summer, she played lacrosse for a club team called Steps Elite. She spent hours training, trying to get better.

And that’s exactly what she did.

Beilman’s sophomore lacrosse season was like something from a movie. Tabano remembers one particular instance that she considers to be Beilman’s break out game. It was a game against Indian Hills and Beilman was ‘on her game.’ She had half a dozen goals and a few assists as well. Her showing was so impressive that it prompted the Indian Hills coach to approach Tabano and ask, “Who is this girl? Where did you get her from?”

From then on, Beilman was a top player in the county. By the end of this break out season and in the summer following it, she realized that playing lacrosse at a higher level was a possibility. More than a possibility—it was likely. College coaches began to watch her at tournaments and even communicated with her over email.

She had inquiries from Boston University, Drexel, High Point, Muhlenberg, Quinnipiac, and Trinity. Beilman spoke to a lot of colleges overall. It was an exciting time for her and one that showed her what a bright future she could have.

Although in middle school Beilman had realized that she was not tall enough to play basketball at a higher level—she stands only 5’5”—and had written it off, she was discovering that lacrosse was a different story.

In fact, things were quite the opposite in lacrosse. “She uses her size to really manipulate space, which is so important as an attacker. And she has a great shot,” Tabano said.

As Beilman’s junior year began, she started to do more research and try to get a better idea of what she wanted to do. Midway through the year, she started to lean towards Drexel, not only because of the Division 1 lacrosse program, but also for the academics. The school has a great science program and, additionally, has its own medical school. Beilman found this very attractive, as she might want to go into the field of medicine.

The academics with the great lacrosse program make it “the best of both worlds” for Beilman.  She loves the lacrosse coach and said that, when she visited, all of the girls on the team were very inviting. All of this was a perfect fit for Beilman and made her decision to commit easier.

It was a unique position for Beilman to be in; as a junior, she already knew where she would be attending college. While her classmates were worrying about SAT scores and college visits, Beilman had the opportunity to sit back and appreciate the fruits of her labor. This did not mean that she would take it easy for the next year and a half; it was not in Beilman’s character. She continued to work hard in sports and in school, as she had done all her life. She even earned the honor of being named an Academic All American.

At the end of her junior lacrosse season, she was been named as one of the captains for the Glen Rock High School 2014 girls’ lacrosse team.

Her peers and coaches describe her as a quiet, effective leader. Elise Doubet (‘14), who has been playing lacrosse with Beilman for years, said, “She brings everyone together. She always knows what to say.”

Tabano admires how Beilman leads by example. “She doesn’t lead in that vocal rah-rah way all the time; she’s always there to be uplifting and to use her voice to empower her teammates,” she said.

When the head coach of the Drexel Women’s Lacrosse team, Hannah Rudloff, answered the phone, Beilman spoke quickly, trying to explain every detail as best she could

She hoped for the best. She was nervous. She was sure her heart was beating loud enough for the coach to hear it on the other end of the line. Her future was so uncertain, and it all would be revealed after this phone call.

Beilman finished her story and paused, waiting for the verdict. She will always remember the words she heard that day, and the effect they had on her.

“Alex, don’t worry.  It happens,” said the coach. “We still love you, and you’re still a great player.”

Relief flooded through her immediately. She could hardly believe what she was hearing. It was everything she hoped for and more.

Nothing would change.

She would still be able to be a part of the team. She would not lose her scholarship. She would be okay. More than okay, she would be happy.

Now, the only thing that Beilman has to look forward to is getting healthy again. When someone asks her about the fact that she has torn both of her ACL’s, she just smiles and replies that “they match.”

She has accepted all that has happened to her in the past and has set her sights on the future. Since this is the second ACL injury Beilman has had, her doctors are more conservative with her rehabilitation. She has to be out of sports for eight months instead of six, so they can ensure that she has enough time to heal completely.

Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are spent at physical therapy at Excel in Waldwick. On Tuesdays and Thursdays she does weight training, and goes to work as a shooter for Ginny Cappichioni, who is a goalie for the men’s national lacrosse team. Then on Saturdays, she goes with her mom to work and sets up exercises to do on the side.

She will not rest until she is healthy.

Although lacrosse will continue to be a big part of Beilman’s life, she is also very excited for the other reason that she will be attending school next year—to get an education. She is thinking of going into a pre-med track or possibly going into physical therapy like her mother. She is interested because of what happened to her, and she thinks that she might want to make a career out of her experience.

Looking to the future, Beilman thinks that she will either continue school after getting an undergraduate degree so that she can become a physical therapist, or she will go to medical school. “We’ll see where that takes me,” she said.

Like any incoming college freshman, Beilman is worried and excited for what is to come. College is an entirely different atmosphere than high school and will definitely take some adjusting. But she is excited to be independent.

“It’s really a true test of if I can manage school and lacrosse,” she said.

The transition to college level lacrosse will require a lot of work. This year, she will have to recover from her injury to get back to a high school level, and then she will have to get ready for a college level over the summer.

She said that all of the training that she has gone through in her whole lacrosse career is equal to the amount of training that she will have to do this summer alone.

Beilman is not scared. She has been through so much already, and can do anything she puts her mind to.

“She’s lost it before,” high school coach Taryn Tabano said, “and I think it’s the mental drive that gives her the ability to consistently become better.”