WEST ORANGE, N.J. — One month into her 2024-25 season at St. Cloud State University, Dayle Ross tore her ACL — but she didn’t realize it. Now, more than a year later, the New York Sirens rookie is in the final stages of a lengthy recovery, inching closer towards her PWHL debut.
Ross had slim chances of being cleared for the start of the 2025-26 PWHL season after offseason knee surgery. Nonetheless, the Sirens selected her with the first pick of the fourth round (No. 25 overall) in the 2025 PWHL Draft.
Sure enough, New York placed the 22-year-old defender on long-term injured reserve (LTIR) ahead of their regular-season opener on Nov. 22.
By PWHL rules, a player must remain on LTIR for at least 21 days. Ross became eligible to join New York’s active roster on Dec. 12, although the Sirens won’t activate her just yet.
‘It’s a lot’ — Sirens rookie says about rehab from knee surgery
Ross traces the injury back to a series against the University of Wisconsin in November 2024, when the Huskies hosted the top-ranked Badgers for two games in two days.
“I went to go hit Laila Edwards, actually,” Ross explained last week, referring to the United States national team defender. “And I just caught my edge, and [my knee] just popped.”
That didn’t stop the Alberta native from appearing in all 36 games for St. Cloud State last season, including two WCHA tournament contests.
Her performance didn’t suffer either. St. Cloud’s captain recorded 15 points and a plus-11 rating — both career-highs — during her senior campaign, and finished second on the Huskies with 46 blocked shots.
“I thought I had, like, cartilage in there or something,” she explained. “But I didn’t think it was my ACL.”
An MRI in March revealed the full severity of her injury — a ruptured ACL in her left knee. Surgery followed within a week of the diagnosis.
Ross attended the draft on June 24, joining an eight-player Sirens draft class. By July, she resumed skating. She’s been a regular participant at Sirens practices since the beginning of training camp — and she finally ditched the red non-contact jersey on Monday.
Meanwhile, Ross remains on a heavy gym regimen, tasked with completing extra workouts in between practices.
“It’s a lot,” the rookie chuckled.
Not to be overlooked is the mental aspect of a recovery process that’s spanned nine months.
“I’ve worked with mental sports coaches, and they’ve helped a lot,” Ross noted. “I didn’t have to sit off when I tore my ACL — I didn’t even know — so I didn’t have that mental block that some athletes have, and I am really happy for that. It does come once in a while, but not as much as others.”
That mental block, particularly with injuries, is something professional athletes can’t afford to have. That’s especially true in a fast-paced league like the PWHL. Playing with fear of re-injury isn’t exactly a recipe for success.
“I have to tell myself I was never injured in the first place,” Ross asserted. “I kept playing my whole [senior] season, so I never felt injured. I think that helped a lot mentally.”
Sirens taking ‘cautious’ approach with fourth-round pick
In early December, Ross reached nine months post-surgery, a standard benchmark for ACL injuries that can often signify a full recovery. But the rookie isn’t cleared for PWHL action just yet. Instead, she’ll continue with her final stage of physical therapy.
“It’s more just like strength stuff and making sure those little muscles in my leg are trying to help my ACL so I don’t put more strain on it,” she explained. “Obviously, you don’t want to re-rupture your ACL, so they’re doing everything I can to get my legs strong and be able to handle a lot of force.”
When Ross does make her pro debut, she’ll add some physicality and elite shot-blocking to an experienced Sirens defense corps. Until then, she must put in work behind the scenes, which she’s more than content to do.
“I’m doing this so I can keep playing for longer.”
The Sirens remain transparent about their handling of Ross since the start of training camp.
“We’re going to let her go through the medical process,” general manager Pascal Daoust stated during preseason media availability. “She’s not preparing herself for a single season. She’s preparing herself for a great career.”
One month later, her timetable remains hazy at best. A look at the Sirens schedule shows a pair of home games this week — Wednesday against the first-place Boston Fleet and Sunday vs. the Toronto Sceptres. Ross won’t play in the first game, and remains unlikely to be back for the second one either.
“One, she needs doctor clearance, and two, she’s on a progressive timeline as it is,” explained coach Greg Fargo last week during the PWHL international break. “We just want to make sure she’s as close to 100 percent before we go full-time with it.”
“It’s up to them, and I trust them, “Ross said. “For ACL, it really depends on the person, which sucks. I can’t really say, but hopefully I’m getting closer, and this is my last couple weeks, and just kind of getting ready for that and seeing if they think I’m prepared for the game.”
New York maintains that there are no red flags with Ross’ recovery. But that’s not going to sway the Sirens from taking a methodical approach with her, even after losing three of their first five games (2-0-0-3).
“She’s progressed really, really well. It looks great out there,” Fargo insisted. “[It’s] one of those situations where everyone just wants to be cautious so we don’t we don’t have any setbacks.”
It’s difficult to speculate when Ross will make her PWHL debut — especially when she isn’t entertaining such conversations.
“I don’t even want to put that on my radar, because that gives me false hopes. I can’t do that to myself mentally,” Ross said. “I’m really just taking one step at a time. The next step is to get out of that red jersey. So I’m excited for that step, and then I’ll worry about the next step later.
