24 SportsUnion | AUGUST 2017
High school
Soccer
An athletes hates this kind
of feeling. He wants to be out
there helping his team win,
but instead he is sitting on
the sidelines because of an
injuries.
By Matt Ondesko
Managing Editor
Injuries are part of the
game, but it doesn’t me
you have to like it. It’s a
helps feeling - and ath-
letes don’t like to be help-
less. They are used to
being in control of their
surrounding. They have
a certain routine they
like to follow. But, when
they are on the sidelines
because of an injury you
can throw that routine
out the window.
Hamburg High School’s
Gabe Mastrangelo knows
what it’s like to be side-
lined because of injury.
They only saving grace
for him was that it wasn’t
during the high school
season. He was healthy
enough during the sea-
son to make a difference
for the Bulldogs.
But, just when he was
ready to get going for his
club season, he had to
have surgery on his an-
kle. A kid who was used
to playing and being out
on the field every day was
now doing nothing for the
next couple of months.
Doing nothing was eat-
ing Mastrangelo up in-
side. It also gave him the
drive to get on the field
quicker and work hard
during his rehab.
“After last High School
season, Empire season
began. In February, I was
told I needed surgery on
my left ankle. After two
months of not being able
to put weight on it, and
another two months of
PT, I basically missed the
entire off season. Since
A striker’s mentali