STONY BROOK, N.Y. — Danny Jara navigated two-hour drives during afternoon rush hour, traveling from Bayside, Queens, to New Jersey daily after his classes throughout his four years at Archbishop Molloy High School in order to train at the elite Red Bulls Academy.

The opportunity allowed Jara to compete internationally in Germany and elsewhere and resulted in a U14 national championship. It could also be taxing, since he typically would not get home until close to midnight on school nights.

"After school, there usually would be a carpool," Jara said. "There were some kids who lived in New York, but very close to the border. Some days my parents would drop me off by one of their houses and one of their parents could take me. Or some days my mom would have to take me herself. It was such a huge burden. I'm so thankful every day that she could so that.

"At the time, even now, it's one of the best youth teams in the United States. I really learned a lot. I went to training centers and youth national team camps at the U15 and U16 levels."

Jara parlayed that experience into signing with the Stony Brook men's soccer team. He made an immediate impact as a midfielder last season.

Still only 17 years old at the time, since his birthday is in December, Jara was grateful to earn the volume of playing time he did as a freshman in 2019. He appeared in 14 matches, making five starts, and totaled 694 minutes. He also tallied his first collegiate goal, the go-ahead score in the 69th minute at Fairfield on Sept. 7 en route to a 2-2 draw.

"One of our senior defenders, Arni Jakobsson, crossed the ball," Jara said. "I brought it down with my left foot. My weak foot is my left foot. I've never scored a goal in my life with my weak foot. And I just hit it with my weak foot and it went in. It was a very happy moment for us to get the lead. I was thinking my goal would give us the win."

Jara's freshman year ultimately did present a challenge. While practicing on March 5, he suffered a broken right ankle. He had surgery just before elective procedures were halted in the state in response to the volume of coronavirus patients being admitted to hospitals.

"It was a noncontact injury. I was just chasing for the ball, trying to turn, and my foot got stuck in the turf," said Jara, who intends to major in economics and minor in applied mathematics. "I placed my right foot down and my ankle kept going. My foot was like 90 degrees to the right."

With a four- to six-month recovery time before being cleared to begin soccer activities, Jara likely would have medically redshirted during the 2020-21 academic year had the sport been played during the fall semester as intended.

But with the COVID-19 pandemic postponing the soccer season until the spring, Jara fully expects to be 100 percent when official competitions begin. He currently is working on ankle mobility during physical therapy sessions. He also has been cleared to jog, allowing him to address his cardiovascular shape. He even ordered an exercise bicycle at his home in Queens to improve his conditioning.

"I probably would have missed the first half of the fall season and then come back," Jara said, "but I don't even know."