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The Comeback - Kat Rader Back Where She Belongs
11/4/2025 8:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
DURHAM, N.C. -- Sixteen years of soccer and Kat Rader had never missed a game. From first lacing up her cleats at age four in 2008 until September 5, 2024, she was a permanent fixture on the soccer field.
If you've just started watching Duke women's soccer you would never know Rader's soccer career was put on pause for six months when in the 26th minute against North Carolina that September evening she went for a ball like she'd done a thousand times before. Over the ensuing months, Rader underwent two surgeries, learned to walk again, and relished every little victory along the way.
It all happened in a matter of seconds. Rader went from averaging 71 minutes per game for her Duke career to being forced to the sideline for an entire season four matches into her junior year.
"I literally had never missed a soccer game," said Rader. "So, that was really hard for me because soccer was my world. It was what I did every single day and multiple times per day sometimes. And then, all of a sudden, that was completely ripped away from me for a really long time."
But the 2022 ACC Freshman of the Year is back where she belongs, leading the 13-3-1 and 10th-ranked Duke with nine goals and eight assists for 26 points – albeit from a new position.
The comeback story starts with Rader running onto a through ball into the box as the Tar Heel goalie was coming off her line. With a North Carolina defender trailing, the trio of players collided in a way that left the goalkeeper on top of Rader's left ankle. Instead of her ankle rolling out like it commonly does, it rolled inward, and Rader knew instantly her life as she knew it was about to change.
"I knew something was seriously wrong right when it happened," Rader said. "I had no stability in my ankle and obviously couldn't walk, so I knew soccer was not going to be in my life for a pretty extensive period of time."Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
The Blue Devils went on to win the game 1-0 – the first win over North Carolina at Koskinen Stadium in program history. Rader had surgery just over 12 hours later to repair her ankle from a pair of fractures and two torn ligaments. She came out with a plate, six screws, a tight rope and a button, which eventually led to another chapter to her comeback story.
There was pain, despair and moments of sadness in the ensuing weeks and months, but there was no self-pity from Rader.
"The one thing through the injury process I came to admire about Kat is that when you experience an injury, you're forgiven for withdrawing," said Duke head coach Kieran Hall. "It's understandable. But Kat gave even more to the team. She was present. She was engaged in training exercises. When people look back on the season, they'll point to the names that received the accolades, but Kat was instrumental in us having a successful fall of 2024. She poured her heart into the team even though it was a really tough time."
Rader, who describes herself as a realist and not really a glass half full kind of person, flipped that script just as her life had been turned upside down. She embraced the most positive and upbeat attitude towards her immediate future.
"I think I just decided to have the most positive, optimistic and 'I got this' mentality," Rader said. "It was really easy to have self-pity and be sad about the situation and I definitely was very very sad. It was the hardest the thing I've had to go through mentally and physical, but I realized these are my circumstances and I wasn't going to just magically wake up in six months and be back on the field. I had to put in the work to get there, and I just decided to be where my one foot was."
She also knew she needed to be present to support her best friends. Being around her teammates was the biggest part of her current life and she understood it also was time to put that positivity towards helping the Blue Devils in any way she could.
"That's my family and I realized without being on the field I had to lead in a different way," Rader said. "I tried to be loud on the sideline. I coached people tactically, I would try and give them my perspective, and I continued to contribute in film sessions and stuff like that. Trying to be an active member of the team even though I wasn't actually playing soccer."
Rader was non-weight bearing for six weeks, which was the first major hurdle for the Stuart, Florida native who was used to sweating and constant activity. After being allowed to put weight on her ankle it took about two weeks for Rader to be walking without a crutch or a boot. That led her to one of her first milestone moments with Duke physical therapist Drew Lukes.
"Relearning how to walk was a challenge," Rader said. "Me and [Drew Lukes] always had snapshot moments of the little wins, and relearning to walk without a limp was one of my first snapshot moments."
She gives much credit to Lukes for guiding her through the physical and mental challenges of the rehab process.
"Drew is one of a kind," Rader said. "He was such an encouraging light in my recovery process and I knew he would meet me where I was at each day. Whether that was a day I hit a milestone or one where I was struggling."
At 10 weeks, Rader started running on the AlterG ® treadmill at 50 percent of her body weight and worked her way up. And because the Blue Devils were having such a successful season, Rader found herself back in parts of practice and she even got to warm up with the team in the College Cup semifinals.
"It was actually really cool, towards the end of our season because we went so long, I was in the passing patterns at practice which was really cool," Rader said. "There's a certain feeling once you can start doing stuff actually on the field with the team. And I got to warm up in our semifinal game in the College Cup, which was really special for me. It was another little win."
After a forced hiatus from Duke physical therapy because of winter break, Rader finally returned to full contact in the middle of February. She played every spring game with the Blue Devils but was battling a fair amount of discomfort in her ankle.
To relieve the pain and get her back to feeling 100 percent, Rader underwent a second surgery at the end of April to remove some of the hardware from the first surgery. She recuperated for the next month so she could hit the ground running for summer training in preparation for her senior year at Duke and hopefully a full season of experiencing a new position.
The move to midfield for Rader wasn't entirely new as it was in last year's preseason when then head coach Robbie Church and Hall, created a plan to capitalize on her elite understanding of the game by playing her in a different role on the field. The versatile Rader, however, only had the chance to dip her toes into new position. But there were glimpses of future success even in just those four games.
"I think going into the preseason of 2024 we were going to use her in a different role and the first however many games before her injury we were seeing signs of what we're seeing now," Hall said. "So, what we're seeing now isn't such a surprise."
A central striker or winger throughout her entire life, Rader had 19 goals for the Blue Devils in her first two seasons. So, why change a good thing? For Hall it's the combination of her sophisticated soccer brain and technical skill.
"She is just so smart," Hall said. "She understands how the game is played. She can onboard ideas really quickly and effectively. Her ball striking ability is incredible. She can hit the ball harder with her left foot harder than most players can with hit with their dominant foot. She can play on the right side of the field, she can play in the center of the field, and she can play on the left side of the field with equal effect. Not many players can do that."
Rader claims this was not always the case. She was the player who simply could kick the ball and outrun her opponent and that was her go-to move in the early years. However, as she got older, she heeded advice from a club coach and while she might not watch as much soccer now, it obviously had a profound effect on her game – perhaps when she was most moldable.
"I had a club coach who instilled in us a lot of tactical aspects of the game and encouraged us to watch soccer," Rader said. "I don't watch as much soccer as I should now, but in high school I watched a ton of Barcelona, Chelsea and Man City [to name a few], so I definitely think that contributed to it."
Hall challenged Rader to be more of a playmaker while still also continuing to find her way in front of the goal. He wanted her to tap into her ability to read the game and create space with and without the ball while delivering passes for the forwards to finish.
Possessing a hunger to be an elite player, Rader listened, learned and rose to the challenge. She already has seven assists to her name this season, one fewer than she had in her previous 43 games combined and has loved every minute of it.
"I love it," Rader said about her move to the midfield. "Now I don't even associate myself as a forward. I still like to score goals, but I really really enjoy playing in the middle. I get to execute some tactical stuff a little more and I've found that as much as I like scoring goals, I like assisting goals too and being a playmaker for others. So, I think the duality of that is something I've really enjoyed."
"Statistically, she is showing she can do both, which I think maybe a year ago it was untapped," Hall said. "She just wants to improve and she has shown she can do that. She has this real hunger to be an elite player and she's showing she can be really versatile."
The combination of Rader's athleticism and intelligence and a competitive desire to learn and win fueled by her growing up with three siblings not only elevates her game but also forces Hall and the Duke coaching staff to always be at the top of their game as well.
Rader's competitiveness is especially apparent at training and in the most light-hearted ways. Determined to win every drill, she will leave no stone unturned to make sure it happens – even if it means combing through practice film and sending it to Hall to point out what actually happened.
"I'm always messing with [Kieran in training] saying the score is actually this or she was out of bounds," Rader said. "For some reason, especially in practice I get super competitive, and I just want to win. So, I'm fighting for every point. I'm fighting for every out of bounds, every offside call. And he's always saying, 'I know I'm going to get a text from Kat tonight about a clip from Spiideo ® about this play.'"
Laughing as she recounts the friendly banter between her and her head coach, Rader smiles and confidently adds, "He messes with me, but I'm always right."
Rader is right. She's right where she's supposed to be – back on the field with her family.
To stay up to date with Blue Devils women's soccer, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWSOC".
#GoDuke
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If you've just started watching Duke women's soccer you would never know Rader's soccer career was put on pause for six months when in the 26th minute against North Carolina that September evening she went for a ball like she'd done a thousand times before. Over the ensuing months, Rader underwent two surgeries, learned to walk again, and relished every little victory along the way.
It all happened in a matter of seconds. Rader went from averaging 71 minutes per game for her Duke career to being forced to the sideline for an entire season four matches into her junior year.
"I literally had never missed a soccer game," said Rader. "So, that was really hard for me because soccer was my world. It was what I did every single day and multiple times per day sometimes. And then, all of a sudden, that was completely ripped away from me for a really long time."
But the 2022 ACC Freshman of the Year is back where she belongs, leading the 13-3-1 and 10th-ranked Duke with nine goals and eight assists for 26 points – albeit from a new position.
The comeback story starts with Rader running onto a through ball into the box as the Tar Heel goalie was coming off her line. With a North Carolina defender trailing, the trio of players collided in a way that left the goalkeeper on top of Rader's left ankle. Instead of her ankle rolling out like it commonly does, it rolled inward, and Rader knew instantly her life as she knew it was about to change.
"I knew something was seriously wrong right when it happened," Rader said. "I had no stability in my ankle and obviously couldn't walk, so I knew soccer was not going to be in my life for a pretty extensive period of time."Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
The Blue Devils went on to win the game 1-0 – the first win over North Carolina at Koskinen Stadium in program history. Rader had surgery just over 12 hours later to repair her ankle from a pair of fractures and two torn ligaments. She came out with a plate, six screws, a tight rope and a button, which eventually led to another chapter to her comeback story.
There was pain, despair and moments of sadness in the ensuing weeks and months, but there was no self-pity from Rader.
"The one thing through the injury process I came to admire about Kat is that when you experience an injury, you're forgiven for withdrawing," said Duke head coach Kieran Hall. "It's understandable. But Kat gave even more to the team. She was present. She was engaged in training exercises. When people look back on the season, they'll point to the names that received the accolades, but Kat was instrumental in us having a successful fall of 2024. She poured her heart into the team even though it was a really tough time."
Rader, who describes herself as a realist and not really a glass half full kind of person, flipped that script just as her life had been turned upside down. She embraced the most positive and upbeat attitude towards her immediate future.
"I think I just decided to have the most positive, optimistic and 'I got this' mentality," Rader said. "It was really easy to have self-pity and be sad about the situation and I definitely was very very sad. It was the hardest the thing I've had to go through mentally and physical, but I realized these are my circumstances and I wasn't going to just magically wake up in six months and be back on the field. I had to put in the work to get there, and I just decided to be where my one foot was."
She also knew she needed to be present to support her best friends. Being around her teammates was the biggest part of her current life and she understood it also was time to put that positivity towards helping the Blue Devils in any way she could.
"That's my family and I realized without being on the field I had to lead in a different way," Rader said. "I tried to be loud on the sideline. I coached people tactically, I would try and give them my perspective, and I continued to contribute in film sessions and stuff like that. Trying to be an active member of the team even though I wasn't actually playing soccer."
Rader was non-weight bearing for six weeks, which was the first major hurdle for the Stuart, Florida native who was used to sweating and constant activity. After being allowed to put weight on her ankle it took about two weeks for Rader to be walking without a crutch or a boot. That led her to one of her first milestone moments with Duke physical therapist Drew Lukes.
"Relearning how to walk was a challenge," Rader said. "Me and [Drew Lukes] always had snapshot moments of the little wins, and relearning to walk without a limp was one of my first snapshot moments."
She gives much credit to Lukes for guiding her through the physical and mental challenges of the rehab process.
"Drew is one of a kind," Rader said. "He was such an encouraging light in my recovery process and I knew he would meet me where I was at each day. Whether that was a day I hit a milestone or one where I was struggling."
At 10 weeks, Rader started running on the AlterG ® treadmill at 50 percent of her body weight and worked her way up. And because the Blue Devils were having such a successful season, Rader found herself back in parts of practice and she even got to warm up with the team in the College Cup semifinals.
"It was actually really cool, towards the end of our season because we went so long, I was in the passing patterns at practice which was really cool," Rader said. "There's a certain feeling once you can start doing stuff actually on the field with the team. And I got to warm up in our semifinal game in the College Cup, which was really special for me. It was another little win."
After a forced hiatus from Duke physical therapy because of winter break, Rader finally returned to full contact in the middle of February. She played every spring game with the Blue Devils but was battling a fair amount of discomfort in her ankle.
To relieve the pain and get her back to feeling 100 percent, Rader underwent a second surgery at the end of April to remove some of the hardware from the first surgery. She recuperated for the next month so she could hit the ground running for summer training in preparation for her senior year at Duke and hopefully a full season of experiencing a new position.
The move to midfield for Rader wasn't entirely new as it was in last year's preseason when then head coach Robbie Church and Hall, created a plan to capitalize on her elite understanding of the game by playing her in a different role on the field. The versatile Rader, however, only had the chance to dip her toes into new position. But there were glimpses of future success even in just those four games.
"I think going into the preseason of 2024 we were going to use her in a different role and the first however many games before her injury we were seeing signs of what we're seeing now," Hall said. "So, what we're seeing now isn't such a surprise."
A central striker or winger throughout her entire life, Rader had 19 goals for the Blue Devils in her first two seasons. So, why change a good thing? For Hall it's the combination of her sophisticated soccer brain and technical skill.
"She is just so smart," Hall said. "She understands how the game is played. She can onboard ideas really quickly and effectively. Her ball striking ability is incredible. She can hit the ball harder with her left foot harder than most players can with hit with their dominant foot. She can play on the right side of the field, she can play in the center of the field, and she can play on the left side of the field with equal effect. Not many players can do that."
Rader claims this was not always the case. She was the player who simply could kick the ball and outrun her opponent and that was her go-to move in the early years. However, as she got older, she heeded advice from a club coach and while she might not watch as much soccer now, it obviously had a profound effect on her game – perhaps when she was most moldable.
"I had a club coach who instilled in us a lot of tactical aspects of the game and encouraged us to watch soccer," Rader said. "I don't watch as much soccer as I should now, but in high school I watched a ton of Barcelona, Chelsea and Man City [to name a few], so I definitely think that contributed to it."
Hall challenged Rader to be more of a playmaker while still also continuing to find her way in front of the goal. He wanted her to tap into her ability to read the game and create space with and without the ball while delivering passes for the forwards to finish.
Possessing a hunger to be an elite player, Rader listened, learned and rose to the challenge. She already has seven assists to her name this season, one fewer than she had in her previous 43 games combined and has loved every minute of it.
"I love it," Rader said about her move to the midfield. "Now I don't even associate myself as a forward. I still like to score goals, but I really really enjoy playing in the middle. I get to execute some tactical stuff a little more and I've found that as much as I like scoring goals, I like assisting goals too and being a playmaker for others. So, I think the duality of that is something I've really enjoyed."
"Statistically, she is showing she can do both, which I think maybe a year ago it was untapped," Hall said. "She just wants to improve and she has shown she can do that. She has this real hunger to be an elite player and she's showing she can be really versatile."
The combination of Rader's athleticism and intelligence and a competitive desire to learn and win fueled by her growing up with three siblings not only elevates her game but also forces Hall and the Duke coaching staff to always be at the top of their game as well.
Rader's competitiveness is especially apparent at training and in the most light-hearted ways. Determined to win every drill, she will leave no stone unturned to make sure it happens – even if it means combing through practice film and sending it to Hall to point out what actually happened.
"I'm always messing with [Kieran in training] saying the score is actually this or she was out of bounds," Rader said. "For some reason, especially in practice I get super competitive, and I just want to win. So, I'm fighting for every point. I'm fighting for every out of bounds, every offside call. And he's always saying, 'I know I'm going to get a text from Kat tonight about a clip from Spiideo ® about this play.'"
Laughing as she recounts the friendly banter between her and her head coach, Rader smiles and confidently adds, "He messes with me, but I'm always right."
Rader is right. She's right where she's supposed to be – back on the field with her family.
To stay up to date with Blue Devils women's soccer, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWSOC".
#GoDuke
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