Cory Highfield was ready to go pro. The product of UMass Lowell was selected by Rochester with the 18th overall pick in the 2019 National Lacrosse League Draft after a career year in his senior season at college.
Highfield, a Georgetown, Ontario native, adapted to the professional game as a transition player for the Knighthawks.
“Coming into the NLL was different,” said Highfield. “I was always an offensive guy and where I kind of made sense for the team (Rochester) was in transition was new to me. I had a lot of support from Pat O’Toole (assistant coach) and Mike Hasen (head coach) to learn that position. I think coming out of the gate it was about getting the first game out of the way. From there it was about building and increasing expectations. For me, it was taking each game for what it was and trying to grow and move forward.
HAMILTON, ON – JANUARY 29: NLL regular season game action between the Rochester Knighthawks and the Toronto Rock at the FirstOntario Centre on Saturday, January 29, 2022 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. (Christian Bender/NLL)
Highfield was having a solid rookie season: nine goals and 13 points in 12 games. 41 loose balls. Things were looking good.
Then, a global pandemic ended his season along with the rest of the NLL. Over a year and a half passed between games for the league.
“Guys talk about this being sort of a medicine game. I’d work my day job from nine to five, then go home, go for a run, then go play wall ball for an hour. That was my escape. Just me, a stick, a ball, and a wall for an hour to practice my craft and take advantage of the passion for the sport. It weighed a lot on a lot of guys, but for me it’s always been a love and I just wanted to spend time working on my craft.”
Time passed and come December 2021, it was time for play to resume. Returning from an unexpected interruption and cancellation of his rookie season, Highfield again faced a hurdle early on, testing positive for COVID-19 following the team’s first game against New York on Dec. 4. From there, the 6-foot-2 transition player would continue to deal with lingering symptoms, missing two weeks of action before being able to return to action in January. Just a few short weeks later, Highfield would hit another wall, and this time, it was one that would keep him off the floor even longer than COVID.
Rochester Knighthawks v Calgary Roughnecks
January 18, 2020
Photo By Micheline V/ Rochester Knighthawks
On March 4 in Georgia, Highfield collided with a Swarm player. It’s a play he described as one that ‘can just randomly happen,’ and holds no ill will towards the player, one he can’t even recall the name of. No grudge exists.
“We were down in Georgia. It was a tight game and I think I was playing pretty well and then there was just kind of a weird defensive play. I went to turn and I guess rolled my entire ankle. That was the big setback.”
In the moment, Highfield was unaware of the severity of his injury, or if it was really an injury at all.
“I didn’t think it was that bad. I got off the floor and put some ice on it. The trainers said to wait 10 minutes and see what happens. To be honest it was a completely different feeling I’ve never experienced. It was all new to me. After I waited 10 minutes, I tried to lace my shoe back up and try running in the back of the arena to see if I could go back out and play. I remember the first couple steps I was almost falling and that was when I knew that wasn’t going to work.”
After being unable to finish the game, Highfield followed his teammates home on a flight back to Ontario. It was on that flight that swelling really escalated due to altitude and by the time he returned home, Highfield was ready for x-rays.
“I got the x-ray done and it came back negative, so I’m thinking maybe I just rolled an ankle and the swelling will go down and I’ll be good to go in a couple of days. Unfortunately, those days snowballed into weeks and slowly rolled into months and nothing got better, so unfortunately I had to go for surgery to get it looked at.”
March 4, 2022 was Highfield’s last game of that season. His next game didn’t come until the most recent game for the ‘Hawks on Jan. 13, 2024, a span of 680 days.
An injury that Highfield thought wasn’t an injury, and shortly thereafter thought would keep him out for a few days, turned into a 680-day rehabilitation.
Rochester Knighthawks v Calgary Roughnecks
January 18, 2020
Photo By Micheline V/ Rochester Knighthawks
“The biggest thing for me was staying positive. It was an unfortunate outcome of the sport. Every day was a new opportunity for me to get better. I couldn’t run or do any lower-body workouts, so I looked at what upper-body workouts I could do to stay in shape. I always tried to have that ‘always looking forward’ frame of mind.”
The now 27-year-old Highfield used that mindset to not only improve physically, but mentally as well, citing that overcoming this obstacle required a new sense of mental maturity for himself.
“You get caught watching the world go by. It’s a mental battle for sure. You want to do everything you can to be there, but you can’t. You have to look at the positives. I want those guys to win whether I’m on the floor or off the floor. I’m happy and fortunate to be a part of this organization. I want success for everybody here.”
“The coaching staff and front office did a great job of making me feel involved. They’d bring me to travel and keep me around the team. That helped me with the mentality of it all. Being around the guys and having that support system made it a lot easier.”
Buffalo Bandits vs Rochester Knighthawks at KeyBank Center, February 5, 2022.
Photo by Bill Wippert
After nearly two years, thanks to hard-work, dedication, and perseverance, Highfield returned to the floor in January. A lot has changed from the beginning of Highfield’s time with the Knighthawks ‘til now. His first season ended due to COVID with the team showing a 2-10 record. Four years later, Rochester is 3-2 with expectations of being a playoff team that can compete with anybody in the NLL.
“It was surreal and really hit home,” said Highfield when asking about returning to play. “To put on that jersey and be in front of our fans was a full-circle moment. Everyone was pushing for me, and I was happy I was able to get back there.”
With the injury behind him, Highfield’s focus is what’s in front of him as it always has been. He joins a highly talented team ready to take the next step as a collective. For Highfield personally, the Knighthawks’ draft pick is soaking in the moment of returning and focused on going further and getting better with his teammates.
“My expectation is to get better every day. We’ve got a really strong leadership group up front. Learning from that group and making sure every time we get together we’re that much better than the day before.”
