Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — It was a play Mike Rinn has likely been involved in a thousand times. But last Thursday, the Sailors' high-scoring forward suffered a severe knee injury going for a steal in a club soccer game.

Rinn's injury is only one of several that have plagued the Sailors high school boys soccer team in the off-season.

"I was going after the ball then planted my foot," Rinn said. "My body twisted but my knee didn't. It just kind of ripped but I heard a loud pop."

Rinn, who was a junior on the 2000 Steamboat Springs team, tore his anterior cruciate ligament and medial collateral ligament in his right knee.

The Sailors' leading scorer is one of four players who is currently out with an injury, said head coach Rob Bohlmann.

Sailors midfielder J.J. Jenny fractured a vertebra in his lower neck in last week's game.

"Somebody centered the ball on our attacking half," Jenny said. "I went for a diving header and the ball bounced off someone else and hit me in the face. Then, I somehow landed on the ball and the ground at the same time and just twisted my neck."

Jenny, who was carted off Dudley Field by an ambulance crew, is likely to miss several weeks of off-season training.

Rinn, who will undergo surgery Friday morning, could miss all of next season.

Bohlmann said two other players also are out with significant injuries. Goalkeeper Chris Gibson shattered a bone in his arm during a ski race this past winter and may miss a big chunk of next soccer season.

Derrick Lewis, a midfielder, is bothered by a nagging back injury and has not seen much playing time in off-season competition, Bohlmann said.

Rinn, who ranked in the top five in the state last season with 24 goals, doesn't expect the players' injuries to slow the Sailors.

"I think since we have so much depth on our team, that no matter what happens next year, I think we can still do real well," Rinn said.