Cameron Porter '15 talks about road to recovery

Cameron Porter ’15, former Princeton men’s soccer star, had a collegiate career filled with triumph after triumph. His rookie season in the MLS on the Montreal Impact started off as a natural continuation of that success — he scored the winning goal in stoppage time against Mexican team Pachuca to send the Impact to the semifinals of the CONCACAF Champions League. Porter was turning heads as one of the league’s immediate impact rookies.

After this blazing start, Porter now faces a long road of difficulty. An ACL tear in his left knee will leave him sidelined for a span of nine to 12 months — guaranteeing he misses the rest of this season.

Porter now focuses on the long recovery process. He outlined his next few steps for rehabilitation.

“Over the last few days, I’ve been going into rehab each morning,” he said when reached for an interview Saturday afternoon. “I’ve been working on mobility, prior to my surgery next week. It’s a month on crutches, a lot of recovery in the swimming pool, [and] doing whatever my specialist says is right.”

On a brighter note, Porter commented on the feeling of scoring such a crucial goal for his team.

“It was sheer ecstasy. You dream of scoring goals like that, having the opportunity to be on the field was special for me,” Porter said. “That goal was unbelievable.”

One might imagine that scoring a goal during a professional game in a stadium of fans would carry much more meaning than a goal in a collegiate game. Porter, however, said the goals carry similar weight with him.

“[They have] similar meaning,” he said. “You [score] for a club, you do it for the group of people supporting you. [Like the Montreal Impact], Princeton has a large network of individuals and passionate friends supporting you.”

The support of the Princeton network is apparently far reaching. Porter mentioned that he continues to stay in close contact with his friends from Princeton, and even “hear[s] all the banter going on at Princeton.”

Porter’s career as a Tiger was one few will be able to match. He was named to the All-Ivy first team in his junior and senior years and was awarded the Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year title his senior season. He is one of only five Tigers to earn the award. He finished his career fourth on Princeton’s all time points list with 75, having recorded 31 goals and 13 assists.