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No Challenge too Big - Martinho’s Journey Back to the Pitch
9/22/2025 8:32:00 AM | Women's Soccer
A product of Roswell, Ga., Riley Jackson is in her second season with the North Carolina Courage. Once a Duke women's soccer commit, Jackson signed with the Courage during high school as a 17-year-old. Jackson is a former No. 1 ranked recruit nationally and was the 2021-22 Gatorade National Girls Soccer Player of the Year. Jackson will be a contributing writer during the 2025 season for the Blue Devils telling stories of the Duke women's soccer program. DURHAM, N.C.-- Being an athlete comes with many challenges. One of the hardest to face is being sidelined with an injury. Redshirt freshman Lauren Martinho made her debut for the Blue Devils on Thursday, Aug. 14 against 11th-ranked Penn State in the season opener, demonstrating inspiring resilience after overcoming her first major injury, a season-ending ACL tear, that prevented her from fielding any minutes during 2024.
Martinho, a savvy and creative midfielder, is a player to watch as the Blue Devils head into the heart of ACC action. With an impressive list of accolades, including appearances with the U.S. Youth National teams at the U-17 Concacaf Championship and World Cup in 2022, and the U-20 Concacaf Championship in 2023, the return of such a high-profile player had been eagerly anticipated. Stepping onto the field at Koskinen Stadium for the first time was a truly special moment for Martinho.
"I have been looking forward to that moment since before I got hurt, so to be able to step on the field for the first time surrounded by all my teammates and with people that I love watching in the stands was just a surreal feeling for me," said Martinho.
"We are delighted to have Lauren back healthy, fit and playing," said Duke head coach Kieran Hall. "From a personal perspective, when you see someone like Lauren, who is so devoted to the game and her craft, it makes me happy to see her back on the field doing what she loves most."
Never Alone
The recovery process for an athlete is often an arduous task. The mental and emotional elements of rehab are often just as difficult as the physical challenge, the undertaking is not something an athlete wants or should have to experience alone. However, throughout her recovery, Martinho felt overwhelmed by the love and support from her Duke teammates and the staff, helping her get through the tough moments and encouraging her to make the most of her role on the team at the time.
"My teammates have been the cornerstone of my recovery process, always keeping me in high spirits, supporting me, asking how things are going and really being invested in me as a person, not just a soccer player -- the recovery team and the physical therapists, they're just amazing. I've primarily worked with Drew [Lukes], our sports scientist and physical therapist for our team. He made my recovery so much better, so much smoother."
"I have really admired how hard Tino has worked to get back," said Duke senior Carina Lageyre. "I know it was a big struggle last season not being able to play. I have seen her work ethic in the training room and on the field."
Throughout the process Martinho also worked in stride alongside her sister, Alyssa, who tore her ACL just weeks before. Having each other to lean on made the process a little less painful for the Martinho sisters.
"To have someone so close to me go through something similar helped me get through it," said Martinho. "To be able to talk to her all the time and understand her feelings as we felt a lot of the same things in similar parts in our recovery helped me a lot. I realized that I will be okay as long as I have my family and a support system."
Love of the Game
The reason that most athletes start playing their sport is because it is fun. Her time away from the game provided Martinho a new perspective, allowing her to reconnect with the passion that first made her fall in love with soccer.
"I see it as less of a pressure situation and more as something I can enjoy, a game that I can play with my teammates, an outlet to show all of my hard work, and a beautiful opportunity to show passion for what I love to do," added Martinho. "I feel like I enjoy it more now than I did before."
Martinho's passion and love for the game does not go unnoticed in her style of play. Methodical on the ball and in attack, she shows a relentlessness and grit out of possession that makes her an all-round midfielder. Martinho's combination with fellow talented midfielders Lageyre, Rader and Lynch will be one to watch throughout the 2025 season.
"You can tell how technical and how great on the ball she is," said Lageyre. "She really brings so much to the team with her creativity and she is only getting started -- so it is really exciting to see her growth. I know she has so much more to give to. I am so happy for her that she is back healthy. It has been so much fun to play with her and I am excited for that dynamic – getting more time together and our combinations. She has worked so hard to get here so she definitely deserves it."
"Lauren is an unbelievable player," said Hall. "She's so cerebral, has great awareness and has outstanding technical ability with the ball. I feel like she has 360 degrees of perception -- a really good understanding of space and time. She's special, no doubt about it. Lauren has battled through the recovery process of her injury, and it hasn't always been so linear; she has had her ups and downs, even when she was cleared. So, the fact that now she has some stability, and she's accruing a lot of minutes under her belt, I feel like she's starting to feel better and better about her performances."
Process Driven
Martinho used her time away from soccer as an opportunity for personal growth, recognizing that her contributions to the team remained valuable even while she was not on the field.
"I learned that I am very resilient and the days that I thought I wouldn't get by, I still made it by," said Martinho. "This season I am going to use my resilience, knowing I got through that entire recovery process and came out better for it on the other end. I will be able to know that I can get through anything and no challenge is too big."
While playing a different role on the team last year, Martinho still cultivated her game by watching through a new lens. Especially learning from players like Hannah Bebar and Maggie Graham - both key contributors to the 2024 squad who now play in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL).
"To see all the work that they put in, day in and day out and how dedicated they were to the grind was really inspiring," said Martinho. "They were never scared to make mistakes. So, I think taking that behavior and applying it in my game is something that I really want to try and do throughout this season."
This season she hopes to contribute to the program by giving it her all on the pitch.
"I want to help this team win championships," said Martinho. "As a team we talk a lot about how we are results oriented, but ultimately process driven. So, every day I want to be able to put my best foot forward to help bring success to the team, whatever that may look like."
In just her second ACC contest at Miami on Sept. 14, Martinho provided an assist on the game-winning goal to help lead the second-ranked Blue Devils to a 1-0 win on the road against the Hurricanes. It marked her first collegiate assist and the first of many more to come.
Duke will next host nationally-ranked Wake Forest Thursday, Sept. 25 at 7 p.m, inside Koskinen Stadium in Durham.
To stay up to date with Blue Devils women's soccer, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWSOC".
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