The end of the season saw a drop-off in his production, though. In his final 11 games – including two postseason contests, Rasmussen notched only one goal and one assist, after seven goals and three assists in Louisville’s opening 18 games of the season. The surgery also meant a rehab process, and time away from the soccer field the type of which Rasmussen hadn’t had to go through since he was a high schooler.

That experience, which saw the 16-year-old Rasmussen make regular hospital visits to check his blood, lasted seven months, but it also gave him the confidence that he could return fully fit to help Louisville this season. With help from Louisville trainer Scott Ritter, Eric McElroy and Pro Rehab in Louisville and Nick Hansen as he returned to Denmark in the offseason, the process was a relatively smooth one.

As he went through the process, Rasmussen also did as much as he could to remain an integral part of Louisville’s squad. If he couldn’t train with his teammates, he could at least stay connected to them away from the practice field.

“It’s always terrible to be sidelined like that,” Rasmussen said. “I want to play with the guys and I want to be part of the group, and you can be a little isolated when you work on your own. When you’re injured, you just do your rehab on the sideline. You’re trying to be part of the team, but it’s easy to be isolated, so I did everything I could to be around the guys as much as possible when we were off the field.”