When Cole Williams learned that he’d torn his meniscus last February, one overwhelming sentiment registered in his mind: 

“I’m going to end on my own terms.” 

During the Archers’ second game of the 2024 Championship Series, Williams started to heat up. He’d scored a hat trick in the club’s opener against the Philadelphia Waterdogs, and he then notched a goal and an assist halfway through the second quarter against the Boston Cannons. 

But after sending a howitzer of a shot off the pipe, Williams absorbed a push from the side, fell awkwardly and, when he stood up, couldn’t straighten his left knee. That’s when he knew something was wrong.

Doubt crept in during the days immediately following his injury. Uncertainties about the future of his career were difficult to face. So was the sense of guilt Williams felt for, in his head, letting his teammates down.

“Am I going to get another opportunity to compete?” he wondered.

The Archers had traded for Williams in December 2023 with the expressed intent of adding him to their Championship Series roster. His 18 points in the inaugural Champ Series in 2023 were the eighth-most in the tournament as the Johns Hopkins product helped lead the Chrome to a title. 

As he was set to hit free agency last March, the 2024 Champ Series was his opportunity to showcase to Utah and the rest of the league that he deserved a regular-season roster spot. He lost out on that not even a game and a half into the tournament.

Williams got a second chance when Archers head coach and general manager Chris Bates brought him back on a one-year deal in free agency. His status for the summer season was uncertain. But Bates and Utah valued Williams’ playing style as a physically imposing lefty dodger who, should he miss the regular season, would once again be an asset for the Archers’ Championship Series roster. 

With a contract signed, Williams set out on a lengthy recovery process. He was on crutches for the first 12 weeks after surgery and, once he could walk unencumbered again, began working with Team USA and Johns Hopkins strength and conditioning coach Jay Dyer to get back to full strength. He rehabbed at 6:00 a.m. each morning for months on end, driven by the motivation to touch the field again.

As Williams recovered during the summer, he established himself within the Utah locker room and on the sideline. While hurt, he even participated in the team’s weekly Zoom meetings and film breakdowns. 

“Cole has been pretty present in our locker room even though he was out all summer,” Archers assistant coach Brian Kavanagh noted. 

“He’s remained a good team contributor,” Bates added.

Cultivating that presence was critical for Williams, both because of his love for being a part of a team and since it was a means of showcasing his commitment to the Archers moving forward. 

“I like to consider myself a good teammate,” he said. “I really do enjoy hanging around the guys. I really enjoy the idea of camaraderie, and I really enjoy being on the team.” 

“I would say everyone is so talented in this league that, in reality, the best team wins, not the best group of individuals,” Williams added. “I can really feel that with the Archers, the larger locker room, and that's something I want to be a part of.” 

Following months of rehab, physical therapy and watching from the sideline, Williams will run out of the tunnel again on Wednesday night for the Archers. When he suits up for Utah’s matchup against the Cannons, it will be the first time he’s done so in 362 days, back on the same field where he tore his meniscus last February. 

“I've definitely come back, probably even stronger,” Williams said proudly. 

Williams’ return almost exactly a year after suffering the most significant injury of his career is a sign of his perseverance. Yet he’s not merely a feel-good story – Utah is going to need Williams if it wants to improve on the club’s 0-4 mark at last year’s tournament. 

“We’re excited to get him back now that he’s healthy and feel like he can really contribute for us,” Bates said. “He’s got a skill set that lends itself to being really effective. He’s on the roster for a reason.”

“Physically, he’s a matchup problem,” Archers team captain Ryan Ambler said. “He’s quick, he’s physical. He’s really hard to guard. … I think he’s hungry, which is always useful. I’m excited for him to hopefully get a chance to showcase the hard work he put down in the offseason.”

So far, during the Archers’ practices and in their scrimmage against the Maryland Whipsnakes on Monday, Williams has stuck out to his teammates. Ambler was particularly impressed by his ability to create offense for others. 

“He was doing it [in the scrimmage versus Maryland] which I really liked,” Ambler said. “It wasn’t, frankly, his shooting that I was most impressed with. He was drawing attention and was doing a good job of then getting other people involved even if he wasn’t the direct beneficiary. So I thought that that was encouraging.” 

With Grant Ament out of the lineup due to injury, Utah will rely on Williams to produce that much more. That said, Williams is focused on doing whatever is necessary to put the Archers in a position to win. 

“I don't think I need to go out there and score five goals,” he said. “How can I make our team better? How can I get Mac O'Keefe more two-bombs? It's really just kind of playing in that system is the main focus for me going forward. Then, when it's my turn to dodge, definitely go as hard as I possibly can.”

While Williams is well aware that he’ll hit free agency on March 3, he is committed to helping the Archers win and trying to earn a spot on the club’s roster moving forward. 

“I'm loyal to this team right now,” he said. “The goal is to just produce at the Champ Series, show that I'm able to be a good teammate, show that I'm able to kind of play in a system and let the chips kind of fall where they may. [I’ll] definitely try to have a focus on returning to the Archers roster. … It's a winning culture that I'd like to be a part of.”

Where Williams lands in free agency remains up in the air. What isn’t, though, is his return to action this week.

“It’s been a long 365 days,” he said about getting back on the field. “I think I've thought about it ever since I got hurt.”