GREENFIELD — When the Cougars soccer team won a sectional two years ago, Greenfield-Central senior Lucy Brand remembers the rush of emotion more than anything else.
The Cougars had tied up Mt. Vernon, forcing them to penalty kicks at the end of the game. One kick ahead, their opponent’s final PK bounced off the crossbar, signaling a Cougar win, and Brand and her teammates rushed the field while the home crowd roared with approval.
Brand and her teammates jumped and screamed together at midfield, relishing their hard-fought victory. Moments like that, Brand will remember, she said. She’ll remember the friendships, the comradery.
Those are the highlights of the story when told from Brand’s perspective, but she left out a few crucial details, said head coach Erin Clark.
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Brand failed to mention how she was the one who scored on the Marauders early on in the game, forcing them to a standstill in the first place. But Brand’s humility is typical of the senior star, Clark said; that’s part of what makes her such a powerful leader, one that any D1 school should be lucky to have.
Brand said she grew up watching her older sisters lead the Cougars on the field when they were in high school. Her oldest sister, Taylor, went on to play as a center defender for the University of Evansville. After graduating at the end of this school year, Lucy will attend Xavier University on a full-ride athletic scholarship, following in her sister’s footsteps as the next D1 soccer player in the Brand family.
Brand said she’s learned over the years that being a truly good soccer player is less about personal skill and more about being in touch with your team, about learning to tap into the entire squad’s collective mind.
“It’s just the motivation you get from it all,” Brand said. “Like, at the end of the school day you’re tired and you want to go home, but then you’ve got to think about everyone else. They all want to do the same thing. But we come together and play, and we get the job done.”
She has experienced success at both Greenfield-Central and with her FCPride team. The Cougars went 14-3 in her junior year, a year in which she was named all-county and all-Hoosier Heritage Conference. The team made it to a regional championship her sophomore year.
With FCPride she has won State Cup championships in 2014, ’15, ’16 and ’17, a National League Red Division championship in 2016, and two third-place national championship finishes.
Despite the stories her sister has told her about college ball, Lucy said she feels like she’s going in blind as she enters the world of the NCAA. She doesn’t know what to expect from the challenges college soccer will bring.
And she honestly can’t wait, she said with a smile.
For the four years Clark has coached Brand, she’s always known her to be a one of those team leaders you come across who is not vocal, but one who leads by example.
“She picks up the girls when they see her sprinting to a ball or working extra at practice,” Clark said. “She sets the bar.”
Though she plays center mid on the high school team, Brand is actually strongest when she’s playing defense, Clark said. Brand is a defender for her travel ball team, but when the Cougars needed her to take on a more offensive role, Brand shrugged her shoulders and stepped out of her comfort zone.
It’s just what she does.
“She’s always taken on that role, and she’s never complained,” Clark said. “Even still, last season she had 11 goals. I think a lot of people don’t even realize that that’s not her strongest position.”
If there’s one thing Lucy will bring to Xavier as an incoming freshman, it’s a steadfast level of respect and commitment, said her mother, Lizan Brand. When you watch her play, Lucy has intensity in every movement she makes on the field.
When push comes to shove and you need someone to make a play, you can count on her to be there to impact the feeling on the field, Lizan Brand said.
Just like her coach said, Lucy will be the last one to boast about her own abilities. But she runs, kicks and fights harder than the toughest player on the field, and she knows it, Lizan Brand said.
She’d never tell you that, though. But she’ll definitely show you.
“She’s got that something that nobody can teach,” Lizan Brand said. “She’s got that drive and that desire to work hard and do great things.”
