Bre Hudgins ’14 fired a game-winning goal into the back of the net Saturday to lift the women’s lacrosse team over No. 16 Princeton, ending a 23-year winless drought against the Tigers. Despite Princeton devoting a defender to Hudgins at all times, the senior captain broke free late in overtime to notch her third goal of the game. When the Bears traveled to Worcester, Mass., Tuesday for a bout with the College of the Holy Cross, Hudgins powered the offense once again with three goals. She is the focal point as Bruno continues to extend its undefeated season. Hudgins’ season total of 15 goals leads the team and ranks her second among Ivy players. For her late-game heroics and leadership role on an undefeated squad, The Herald has selected Hudgins as the Athlete of the Week.
When did you get serious about lacrosse?
Lacrosse has always been something that’s been more like an outlet for me. It’s always been really fun. I think making the decision to come to Brown, (Head Coach Keely McDonald ’00) was very clear that we’re trying to become competitive nationally. “You’re going to come to Brown and make this program better.”
Last year was really a turning point for my class and the program on the whole. We had really close games, which was an eye-opener for us and showed us that if we put in the work and the time, we can get the results we want. If we stay positive and keep lacrosse happy, we can get the job done.
At Brown, we are really lucky that we have coaches who don’t want lacrosse to be a job. They want us to have fun and keep it light while also getting better. That’s a great way to look at lacrosse, and I think it’s really shaped what I do here.
How did you choose to play for Brown?
I think our head coach does a really great job of selling Brown and the team. She went here, so she knows the ins and outs of the school and is really honest about that. The chance to play in the Ivy League and work to change a program is a really unique experience. All the girls who committed with me were ready to do that, and I was ready to be challenged here and excited by the opportunities from playing lacrosse here. There were so many factors at Brown that made playing lacrosse an extra benefit.
As a senior, what did it mean for you to finally beat Princeton?
It was amazing. It was one of those games where there wasn’t one person who was the star. Everything that we’ve worked so hard on, we executed. Everybody did their job. Even people who didn’t necessarily see playing time were really loud and supportive from the bench. We all believe in everything we’ve been working for, but it was great to finally get there. I think it was surreal for five minutes, but then we realized, “No, we actually are this good.” This win really just opened the door for everything we can do this season.
What were you thinking going into overtime?
Going into overtime, we were just all so confident in each other. We knew we just had to play our game and stay calm. During the whole game we stayed positive and backed each other up no matter the score, because it was just what we had to do. In overtime we just had to keep the ball. Things happened so fast, it wasn’t even planned. There were scrambles and then I cut away, took the drive and got the pass. Whatever happened just happened. Everyone stepped up in the second half, and it was a big confidence boost for the program. We always knew that we could, but now that we did it, we can’t wait to see what else we can do.
What are your plans for next year?
I got accepted into Teach for America, actually in Providence. My sister is going to be playing for Brown next year — she plays defense. She fought me at first about coming here, but after she visited, she was sold on playing here. … So I’ll definitely be around supporting the program.
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