Kristen Edmonds, right, made her first start of the season with the Orlando Pride on Aug. 17 (Photo: Adrian J Hernandez / Orlando Soccer Journal).

Kristen Edmonds made her first start of the season on Saturday during the Orlando Pride’s 2-0 loss to the Utah Royals.

While that may have been a long time coming for the Pride stalwart, a recent knee injury that made her miss nearly three months of action may have felt longer.

“It took forever, to be honest, being injured is never fun… it sucks, but I’m back,” Edmonds told the Orlando Soccer Journal following last weekend’s game at Exploria Stadium. “I’m feeling really good, my knee is feeling really good, so it’s behind me now.”

Edmonds suffered a medial collateral ligament (MCL) injury on her left knee on May 5 during the club’s last training session before traveling to take on the Houston Dash.

Edmonds said it wasn’t a complete tear, but the recovery took a lot longer than she expected.

Pride head coach Marc Skinner told Pro Soccer USA, following the injury, that Edmonds was expected to “miss time” and that eventually resulted into the versatile player missing 10 games, including a stretch that saw the Pride lose several international players due to the FIFA Women’s World Cup in France in June.

Edmonds, who’s been with the Pride since their 2016 inaugural season, last played on April 21 and officially returned from injury on Aug. 10 during a 1-0 loss to the Dash, entering in the 69th minute for Joanna Boyles.

Photo: Adrian J Hernandez / Orlando Soccer Journal

On Saturday, however, she made her first start of the season and played the entire 90 minutes.

Pride head coach Marc Skinner was pleased with Edmonds’ performance.

“I thought she was excellent, considering that’s her first 90 in a long time,” said Skinner.

For Edmonds, who’s played in five games so far this season, she’s happy to be back from a long injury absence.

“I’m happy that I’m healthy and playing,” said Edmonds. “Obviously, I want to do anything I can to help the team, and if it’s playing 90 in the backline, I’m going to do that. Anytime they ask me to step up, I’m going to do it.”

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