Podcast: Endicott goalie Jackie Ruggiero on physical sacrifice for her soccer dream

Endicott senior goalkeeper Jackie Ruggiero sends a pass. (Endicott Athletics)

The latest guest on New England Soccer Journal’s “The Goal” podcast is Endicott College senior goalkeeper Jackie Ruggiero.

The California native helped Endicott, a Division 3 program in Beverly, Mass., finish the 2022 season at 9-5-5. She started 16 games and posted an impressive 0.67 goals against average with eight shutouts. Ruggiero was a Second Team All-CCC selection.

Remarkably, Ruggiero has played that well despite having just four fingers on her right hand. When she was in high school, she seriously injured her hand in an accident. As a result, she later had her right ring finger partially amputated.

Still, Ruggiero was able to go on to flourish in net and become an excellent college keeper.

She joined host Matt Langone to discuss overcoming that very significant physical obstacle, thriving as a student-athlete at Endicott and pursuing a career in nursing.

The full podcast can be accessed below and is available on all major platforms. If you enjoy it, please leave a rating and a review.

Here are some highlights from our discussion with Ruggiero.

On being a goalkeeper with nine fingers:

Ruggiero: “It was definitely a huge adjustment from playing with 10 to nine fingers. I’ve had to get my gloves — not specially made — but I’ve had to tweak them a little bit, so that I’d be able to wear them a little bit more. And my goalie coaches, thankfully, have been super wonderful about working with me and getting back into the net and really getting used to handling the ball with a different grip.”

On how she decided to go through with the partial amputation of the finger:

Ruggiero: “They tried fusing my finger together, like at the middle joint, but that was just too painful and it just didn’t stay. So, really my only options were to either have it partially or fully amputated. I got to talk to a couple (veterans) at the vet center that my dad knew, who had amputated limbs, and they just kind of basically told me ‘don’t cut anything off that still works.’ So I went into my doctor’s office a few days later and was just, like, ‘let’s go ahead and do the partial amputation surgery.'”

On her mindset through the process:

Ruggiero: “I’ve always been kind of strong-headed, so I feel like that kind of played into my favor a little bit. But leading up to it, I definitely had to think about it. It was probably a good month or so before I made the decision. I talked to a bunch of different people in my family and, of course, the veterans, and a bunch of different doctors about what they thought. I love soccer so much, to the point where if I wanted to be able to play without it being excruciating pain every time, that was pretty much the only option that I had, and I wanted to just follow my dream of playing college soccer.”

On how the injury and recovery impacted her recruiting process:

Ruggiero: “I wouldn’t say coaches were nervous about how I would play, I would say more just curious as to how I would go about being a goalkeeper with only nine fingers. I remember talking to my (Endicott) coach (Jodi Kenyon), coming in as a freshman and she initially didn’t even know that I only had nine fingers. It wasn’t until I was recruited on the team that she found that out. So, it was kind of a surprise to them. When I got in goal and started practicing, it was like they couldn’t even tell that I was missing a finger.”

On wanting to become a nurse:

Ruggiero: “I’ve always been fascinated by the medical world. Obviously, in my years of playing soccer, I’ve gotten a couple injuries along the way, so I was very familiar with the doctor’s office. But it was really my injury that kind of pushed me in this nursing direction, only because the nurses that took care of me when I was at the hospital during my rehab, all that kind of stuff, they were really super compassionate, and encouraging, and inspiring. I just want to be able to replicate that for somebody else.”

The Goal” podcast is brought to you by the New England Revolution and Soccerheads New England.

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