Bre Hudgins '14 stormed out of the gate in her collegiate debut, scoring five goals in a 21-8 shellacking of Sacred Heart last Saturday in the women's lacrosse season opener. The Syracuse, N.Y. native now looks ahead to her first career Ivy League game tomorrow against Columbia. For her impressive first performance in a Brown uniform, The Herald has named Hudgins Athlete of the Week.
How were you feeling before your first collegiate game?
Our coaches make us really prepared for our games, and we know what to expect. We're given a game, so we're all on the same page, and we're really prepared. I was just really excited to get our season started.
How did you score the first of your five goals?
The first goal was, like, accidental. Paris (Waterman '11) passed me the ball, and I kind of shot but got pushed at the same time, so it luckily got past the goalie. But it was still nice. As an offense, we've been working all year. We've just been really focused on having a very potent attack, so that way, there are just so many options. Everything seemed to be working for us on Saturday.
What was it like after the game?
When I saw some of the guy lacrosse players, they made a big deal out of it. But everyone else — as long as we got the win, it didn't really matter. My mom was really excited.
What are you expecting from your first Ivy League game on Saturday?
We have, like, Bear families. I've talked to my big Bear, Paris Waterman, a lot, and she just says that when we play Ivy games, they're just so different than any regular game just because no one wants to lose an Ivy game. It's just really intense. I'm really excited — it's not our first game, it's not our first home game, but it's not just a regular game either.
Why did you choose to come to Brown?
It was definitely the team. Talking to (Head Coach) Keely (McDonald '00), just all the opportunities that my class has and the people coming next year. Just the opportunity to make the Brown lacrosse program something special — it's an opportunity that I've never had before because my high school was just really good at lacrosse to begin with. But just the chance to make Brown into a better program is great.
Who is your favorite professional athlete?
I've never really thought about it before. But we got these quotes this year for our locker room, and my quote is from Serena Williams. It talks about how she has attitude and always goes out hard. So if I had to pick one, I'd pick her because she's really made a name for herself and isn't afraid to be who she is on the tennis court.
What's been the best part about Brown so far?
It's so hard to pick! Besides chicken finger Friday because that doesn't really count, my favorite thing would probably have to be — well, not the people, but kind of the people. Just how there's no difference. I have really good friends who are on the lacrosse teams and really good friends who aren't on the team. It's really nice to not have to deal with the whole jocks and not jocks type of stuff.
Did you have any women's lacrosse players you looked up to when you were younger?
My high school has a lacrosse camp, so all the college girls — now that I'm one of them, it's kind of weird — but all the college girls come back. There's a girl who played at University of Connecticut and now she's a coach at Syracuse University. Her name is Shannon Burke. She's still, to this day, one of the best lacrosse players I've ever seen. She was always someone I looked up to.
