Shannon Welch/Photo Editor
After an impressive 2011 campaign, the pressure was on Laura Kurash ’13 to repeat her success in her senior season. Kurash took the challenge personally and topped her 2011 excellence with a season that culminated in the Cardinal quad-captain winning NESCAC player of the year honors among a slew of other accolades. With the award, Kurash caps off a brilliant college career that has certainly earned her a place among history’s greatest Cardinal athletes.
Kurash’s path to the award was a steady progression. She made major waves in her first year as a Cardinal in 2009, taking top rookie honors and a surprising All-NESCAC second-team nod with six goals and three assists in just eight games. It was apparent from the beginning of her illustrious career that Kurash would be an absolute nuisance for opposing CAC squads.
In her sophomore campaign, Kurash assumed a greater role on the squad, and her effort paid off as she made the leap to the All-NESCAC first team at the end of the campaign. Her third season, however, was when Kurash broke loose on the league and tied for the most goals and points in the conference. Determined not to step off her game, her Player of the Year-caliber senior season yielded nine goals and 22 points, which led the league in both categories.
As impressive as her year-by-year statistics are, Kurash’s career as a whole has given way to some impressive accomplishments. Her career totals of 37 goals and 88 points make her the second-most prolific scorer in the history of Wesleyan women’s soccer. Even more impressive is that 15 of those goals were game-winning blasts. Of the 54 contests in which she has played, the Cardinals won 25, meaning that Kurash gave Wes 60 percent of its victories over her four years. Certainly her accomplishments cannot be understated, and the soccer team owes quite a bit to Kurash. Her tenacity as a forward with blazing pace will be missed in coming years, but her presence will be felt long past her time as an influential part of the Wesleyan women’s soccer team.