Dialog reporter
Two years ago, Laura Hurff was looking forward to her senior year at Ursuline Academy, during which she was named the Catholic Conference player of the year for field hockey and made first-team all-state for the second time.
This summer, Hurff, a 2014 graduate of Ursuline, has continued her athletic progress. Earlier this month, she was named to USA Field Hockey’s Under 21 team roster, the organization’s developmental pipeline for future Olympic teams. This comes after a freshman year at Syracuse University in which she helped the Orange to their first national championship appearance.
Hurff is part of the 22-member U21 team, whose prime goal is to advance to the senior women’s national team. She will train periodically at the national team headquarters in Lancaster County, Pa., and will play in friendly competitions and the 2016 Pan American Junior Championship next March and April in Trinidad and Tobago.
It’s the next step in Hurff’s climb in the sport. She stepped right in last season as a freshman for Syracuse, starting 22 of 24 games for the nationally ranked Orange, who play in the very competitive Atlantic Coast Conference. She said the transition from high school to college was huge.
“When you come in as a freshman, you’re a little intimidated. I know I was, for sure, because it’s a whole different ballgame than it is in high school. Playing on a different surface, it’s a much faster game,” she said.
She wasn’t sure how much playing time she’d receive, saying it was a competition every day to get into the lineup. But she emerged as a steady midfielder and forward for Syracuse, scoring five goals and adding four assists for the Orange, who finished the season 18-6. Hurff was named the ACC player of the week in November after scoring twice against Louisville in one match, then following that up with a goal and two assists in the next contest against Cornell.
On its way to the national title game, Syracuse defeated top-ranked North Carolina twice, once in the ACC tournament semifinals, then again in the national semifinals. The second match was a classic.
“It was awesome because we went not only to double overtime, but we had to go to shootouts, and then we had to go into sudden-death shootouts. It was unbelievable,” Hurff said.
The Orange lost the championship game, 1-0, to Connecticut, but Hurff is confident the team can challenge again since it will bring back nearly its entire roster from last season. She also feels more comfortable heading into her sophomore campaign.
“Once I started playing, I started getting more confidence in myself,” she said.
Syracuse coach Ange Bradley said Hurff is “a great competitor and one of the best athletes I have ever had the opportunity to coach.” The goal at Syracuse, Bradley said, is to continue to develop her technical skills.
“Her goal is to become an Olympian and it is our job to help her reach her goals,” said the coach, a 1988 graduate of the University of Delaware, where she holds several field hockey goalkeeping records and is a member of the Athletics Hall of Fame.
Hurff brought passion, aggression, athleticism and heart to the Syracuse team, Bradley said.
Hurff is majoring in health and exercise science with an eye on a career in physical therapy. She has spent the summer at her Newark home, working camps and training with the national team.
At Ursuline, she was a three-sport standout, playing basketball and lacrosse in addition to field hockey.
