Relief flashed across Civana Kuhlmann’s face the moment she was presented with her first NWSL contract by Washington Spirit executive Mark Krikorian. Head coach Mark Parsons, sitting alongside Krikorian in the room, summed up the moment succinctly.

“Oh yeah, you took the long way here.”

The long way was putting it mildly. The Centennial native, taken 37th overall in January’s NWSL draft, spent close to three years rehabbing from four surgeries to repair a torn ACL, torn meniscus and torn labrums in both her left and right hips. She also lost a close friend in former Stanford goalkeeper Katie Meyer.

As she worked her way back, Kuhlmann watched friends from Colorado and Stanford begin to make names for themselves. And after graduating from Stanford in May 2022, and watching their games on TV, she realized that she wanted to be their teammate again.

So Kuhlmann found her way back to Colorado and found joy in the game that had been missing.

“In order to be where I’m at, I had to turn a lot of things into a positive. If I would’ve gone on feeling like a victim I feel like that’s when the situation overcomes you. … Honestly, going through injury and being in pain, healed me in a weird way,” Kuhlmann told The Post in a recent phone interview. “Having to physically heal also forced me to mentally heal and a lot of those things went hand-in-hand. Part of me is also lucky for injury too. I feel like I’d be holding onto things tighter than I would be if I weren’t forced to heal holistically.”

Growing up, Kuhlmann was on track to be the next breakthrough star from Colorado — much like her friends Mallory Swanson and Sophia Smith. She was on the U.S. under-17s at 14 at the youth World Cup, the No. 2 recruit in her high school class, and a strike partner with Swanson on the U-20s to qualify for that age group’s World Cup.

Still, even after being a two-time national champion at Stanford, Kuhlmann felt it was time to come home after everything that had happened — including her friend, Meyer, taking her own life.

“There was a lot of grief, honestly, in my time at Stanford,” she said.

Kuhlmann felt that being out on the field was the answer — so she left the Farm to find a better fit with CU. Transferring to Boulder proved to be the spark she needed. As a graduate transfer, she led the Buffs in scoring (12), assists (6), shots on goal (26) and total points (30) last fall.

For CU head coach Danny Sanchez, seeing Kuhlmann play fearlessly and scoring at a high rate once again, it was clear she hadn’t just returned home. She’d also returned to the player she appeared destined to become before injuries began to pile up.

“There’s a lot of great players around this country,” Sanchez said. “But what I’ve learned is really, the mentality. There’s not a lot that separates the players ability-wise, it’s the mentality to really want to be a pro. Some will say it but in their heart of hearts, don’t mean it. Civana, that was the goal from when she was 12-years-old … The thing you could see with her in her rehab was her saying ‘I’m gonna be a pro and will put myself in the best position.’ ”

Now that she’s in Washington D.C., Kuhlmann can be a pro in an environment she’s always had in mind. She’s played three times this season and is starting to see the field more. Given that it’s a World Cup year, there will be opportunities for minutes as the tournament gets closer. But embracing the team around her has been the most enjoyable part.

“It’s been really awesome honestly since Day 1,” Kuhlmann said. “The team is really easy to slide into and everyone’s been great. You really don’t feel like you’re a rookie when you come into this space. It’s a credit to the players and I know Mark Parsons didn’t want any rookie talk, either. Everyone’s really important and I really think there’s not too much emphasis on your year, rookie or veteran.”

Kuhlmann never game up on her dream and she’s learned to give herself grace.

Being healthy and on a team that trusts her goal-scoring instincts is important, but her personal goal for her Year 1 in the NWSL? “Be a great teammate and enjoy it a little more. Taking the long way to get here allowed me to grow so much. It taught me so much and I really can’t underestimate how much it did for me.”

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