SYRACUSE, NY – Erin Flurey made a mark on the New Hampshire high school soccer landscape during her time at Manchester Central and now she’s building on that legacy as a striker at Syracuse.
Appearing on State Championship teams in 2017 and 2018 or the Little Green, Flurey feels that her high school appearances and her time playing club soccer for Seacoast United helped prepare her for the leap to college soccer, playing four times a week at Seacoast and often playing against male teams.
Still, Flurey said there was still a bit of a transition once she played in college.
“You’re not playing with girls who are just playing for fun, it’s basically your job,” she said. “It’s way more intense and you have to have more discipline if you want to perform. Obviously, there’s school, too, like there was in high school, but you can build your collegiate experience around soccer while it was just an after-school activity in high school.”
Her transition to Syracuse was delayed after she suffered an ACL injury in her final club game for Seacoast. While it was humbling, it held a silver lining as well as her time redshirting in 2021 gave her perspective that she could use once returning to the pitch after recovering from surgery.
“It helped my mind a lot, but it was really frustrating,” she said. “That year of watching really prepared me to see what it was like when I would have an opportunity to play. Without that time, I don’t think I would have been so acclimated.”
Flurey scored six goals in 18 appearances this fall for the Orangemen, with 10 goals in 34 appearances overall in her collegiate career so far. She hopes to pursue a professional career after obtaining her degree, and notes that it’s a dream that would not be possible without support from her teammates and her family.
“My parents didn’t put pressure on me, while soccer helped me grow into what I am, they made it my choice and supported everything I did, which made it fun and made me want to keep doing it,” she said. “They’re the major reason why I still play. They’ve given me so much and helped me not take anything for granted.”
