Pride’s Pressley returns to strange soccer landscape after breast cancer fight
Toni Pressley was looking forward to a comeback season with the Orlando Pride after overcoming breast cancer.
But then life threw the defender another curve with the coronavirus pandemic and the impact it had on the Pride, who had to withdraw from this summer’s Challenge Cup tournament because of positive tests.
“You go through things through soccer, and it can kind of be an up and down roller coaster, like you’re starting, you’re not starting, you perform well, you might have a bad game here and there, you have injuries and whatnot,” Pressley said. “But I think, in general, we’re all a lot stronger than we think we are and we can overcome almost anything. I’ve certainly learned that with going through having breast cancer, that I don’t think we’re given anything we can’t handle.”
Pressley has been a mainstay around the National Women’s Soccer League, and with the Pride since 2016. Last year, just as she was settling back into the starting lineup after a seasonopening injury, she noticed she was tired and achy a lot. There was also a small lump in her right breast.
At first, it didn’t make sense. Breast cancer didn’t run in her family. She was only 29. She was an athlete. A vegan.
The day after she was told, she played in a game. Pressley ultimately chose to have a double mastectomy, and triumphantly returned for the Pride’s final game in October.
Finally healthy, she was looking forward to this season. Then it all came to an abrupt stop in March. The NWSL put together a plan to bring all the teams to a bubble in Utah for the Challenge Cup. But a week before the tournament began, the Pride was hit by a number of positive coronavirus tests and they were forced to withdraw.
Pressley said it was difficult to watch from afar as the rest of the league celebrated a successful tournament. “It was really tough, just with how last season went and the challenges and hurdles that I went through personally,” she said. “It was really disappointing because we all worked really hard ... and to have that taken away, it was really disappointing.”
Once the Challenge Cup concluded, teams went back to their local markets for a fall series of matches. The Pride wraps up its fourgame series Saturday against the North Carolina Courage, a game which will be nationally televised on CBS.
The Pride ( 021) are coming off a 21 loss to the Houston Dash last weekend. Pressley came in at the half.
“Toni is composed,” Pride coach Marc Skinner said. “That comes from understanding who she is as a person and understanding her game.”