For most collegiate women's soccer players, when their senior season comes to an end, so do their soccer-playing careers.Unlike their male counterparts, the opportunities in women’s soccer at the professional level are few and far between.
Despite these challenges, Wright State senior goalkeeper Brooke McCurdy is hoping for an opportunity at the next level. McCurdy spent part of the summer training in Holland and has prepared herself for the start of the women’s soccer season.
McCurdy led Wright State to the best team save percentage in all of Division 1 women’s soccer in 2012. She turned away 88.1 percent of the shots she faced in her junior season. The squad came a goal away from making the NCAA Tournament last season.
McCurdy travelled to Holland to practice with Ajax, which allowed her to train with elite women’s soccer players from around the world. The purpose of the trip according to McCurdy was not only to prepare for this year’s campaign at Wright State, but her soccer career after college.
“I wanted to get the feel of playing at the next level,” McCurdy said. “I wanted to know what I needed to do to take my game to the next level. It prepared me well for this season. I got tips on what I needed to work on.”
She is a native of Peterborough, Ontario and played high school soccer for the Crestwood Mustangs. McCurdy has capped with the Canadian U-20 National Team and participated in the U-20 World Championships.
Raiders head coach Patrick Ferguson recruited McCurdy when her junior team visited the Miami Valley for a friendly. Ferguson did not have to go far to find to the international star.
“I would like to think it was my recruiting expertise,” Ferguson said. “She came to us and it worked out well.”
As McCurdy finishes her senior season at Wright State later in the fall, she will find limited opportunities to play at the next level in the United States. After two professional women’s soccer leagues have folded in the last decade in the United States, McCurdy believes her best options will come overseas.
“There are plenty of opportunities,” McCurdy said. “My dream has always been to play overseas though. I am considering the (one) remaining U.S. league, but I want the experience of travelling.”
McCurdy posted her first shutout of her senior campaign Sunday in a 1-0 win at Nevada. In the Raiders first four games this season, she has stopped 88 percent of the shots she has faced and has a .68 goals against average.
