For four seasons, Emily Brown has been a force on the soccer field.
The Wilfrid Laurier University women’s soccer striker attributes her consistent success to her experience with the program, and now she finds herself just a goal away from 60 in her four-year tenure.
Despite the accomplishment being on the horizon, it’s still in the back of her mind.
“If that was in the forefront, then [the goals] wouldn’t be happening,” Brown said. “Having the right mentality for that is key and being calm throughout the process, it just comes with it.”
Nine games into the 2014 Ontario University Athletics campaign, Brown is finding herself in a familiar place atop both the province and the country with 17 goals – one away from her tally last season.
She potted 18 a year ago, which set a new team record for most goals in the season and shattered her 15-goal record from the season previous.
In her rookie year, Brown found the back of the net nine times, earning OUA West rookie of the year honours.
Sitting at 59 goals with seven games left and the potential to crack 60 in four years, Brown’s head is somewhere else.
“It’s a great accomplishment, it’s a cool thing to say, but at the end, it’s just a number,” she said.
“What I’m really looking forward to is the OUA title, the national championship – that’s the big goal in all of this.”
The fourth-year business student has been a frequent attendee of the OUA championship, finding herself in the final with the Hawks for her first three years.
She also attended all three Canadian Interuniversity Sport national championships, receiving a first team all-Canadian nod twice.
But it wasn’t until last year that Brown felt the red ribbon with the gold medal around her neck.
“Every year I’ve been here, we’ve made it to the OUA championship and last year we were able to pull it off and it was an unbelievable feeling. So to end that way again this year would be incredible.”
This year, other members of the Hawks join the dominant striker on the score sheet.
Newcomers Maxine Murchie and Nicole Lyon have scored 10 and nine goals respectively, adding depth to Laurier’s offence.
Last season, the next closest Hawk to Brown’s tally was Katie Bishop with three goals.
“We have players across the board that can score and we’re so much more of a threat now to other teams and they can’t control us,” Brown said. “That’s why we’re winning 5-0, 4-0 and we’re burying these teams because we have the talent to do that.”
Brown’s unsure whether she’ll come back for a fifth-year, but stressed that she wants to focus as much attention as possible on right now on the goals at hand.
The Hawks sit third in the OUA West, behind the York Lions and the Western Mustangs, with Laurier playing York this weekend.
“It’s just about focusing on the steps toward the big goals … but it’s important not to get too far ahead of ourselves and lose focus right now because this is what we need to do to get there.”
While the 60-goal milestone could be a nice touch to add to her resume and the OUA championship is a tangible goal, Brown is thinking about a bigger ending to her Laurier tenure.
“I think we need to look further even to nationals and get that championship – that would be the ultimate goal and the best way to end my career here.”
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