Kylie Ohlmiller sat on her living room couch in Rochester, N.Y., last February watching the Unleashed All-Star Game on ESPN+ in what she called “the comfiest corner” of her house. But she was anything but snug. 

Ohlmiller was excited. She was frustrated. She was happy for former teammates and friends helping launch the Sixes version of the game that will be played in the 2028 Olympics. She felt left out. She couldn’t stop smiling. She was, in her own words, “having a mental breakdown” as her fiancé, Philadelphia Waterdogs long-stick midfielder Ryland Rees, tried to help calm her down.

The Unleashed All-Star Game was the PLL’s women’s lacrosse exhibition held during the 2024 Championship Series. Instead of participating, Ohlmiller was halfway through a 2 1/2-year recovery after tearing her left ACL, MCL and meniscus twice in a 15-month span.

“The Unleashed All-Star Game was literally the most entertaining women’s lacrosse game I’ve ever watched,” Ohlmiller said Feb. 5. “It made me want to be out there so much that I found more motivation to say, ‘OK, if this happens again next February, I’ll be there.’”

And here she is. Ohlmiller, 28, returned to the field at The St. James in Springfield, Va., on Tuesday, where she scored the first goal in Maybelline Women's Lacrosse League history. The New York Charging veteran finished with the one point on three shots in the team’s 14-13 victory over the Maryland Charm. But strip away the goal and the win, and Ohlmiller still achieved all she wanted: “To step on the field again,” she said. “Sounds silly, but it is [my aim].”

“The one thing that’s been unwavering was Kylie’s determination,” Charging midfielder Emily Hawryschuk, who made her way back from her own March 2021 ACL surgery and trains with Ohlmiller near Rochester, said postgame Tuesday. 

“All of her hard work, you saw it today.”

THE FIRST GOAL IN WLL HISTORY!!

Who else but Kylie Ohlmiller ⚡️⚡️⚡️ pic.twitter.com/fFXEZwchYB

— New York Charging (@wllcharging) February 12, 2025

Ohlmiller first tore her ACL, MCL and meniscus representing Team USA at the 2022 World Lacrosse Women's World Championship in Towson, Md. She helped the U.S. to gold with 10 goals and seven assists but had to sit out the final medal match against Team Canada after sustaining her injury.

She had surgery to repair her knee a month later, just to re-tear everything in November 2023 while working out in preparation for the 2024 World Lacrosse Box Championship. She again underwent surgery, this time in the same month as her injury. Unlike the first time around, the second occurrence brought more swelling, more pain, more doubt.

“A lot of question marks went through my mind,” Ohlmiller said. “It wasn’t ever a matter of if I would get back on the field. It was more wondering what I would look like when I got back on it. I compared myself to previous versions of me and [kept] trying to remind myself that this version of me has gone through way more than the fresh-out-of-college version of me ever did. I had to give myself grace there.”

Ohlmiller graduated from Stony Brook with the Division I career records in assists and points. She was the first Tewaaraton Award finalist in program and conference history and a back-to-back Tewaaraton finalist. She also helped the Seawolves to their first-ever national No. 1 ranking.

The Long Island native is a New York Yankees and Islanders fan. She grew up rooting for the New York Jets but split that allegiance when she moved up to Rochester, a Buffalo Bills town. She’s never repped or rooted for a non-New York state team. She didn’t want to start now in the WLL.

“I’m a New Yorker through and through,” Ohlmiller said.

She may not out-sprint the recently graduated midfielders or zigzag through veteran defenders, but — above all else — she’s there.

“Fans are gonna see a more patient, wise player,” Ohlmiller said Feb. 5. “And I hope they see a lot of joy and gratitude while playing, too.”