RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Brigid Duffy is leading a charmed life.
In the past year, the upstate Queensbury native solidified her place as perhaps the greatest Army female athlete of all time, rewriting record books along the way and winning two team championships as a senior; graduated from her dream school of West Point “99 percent happy’’ with her experience; was commissioned as an Army officer; led the United States to a world lacrosse title; and, capped it off with playing a major part in winning the first pro women’s lacrosse league championship on Saturday.
Duffy, 22, scored a pair of goals in the first quarter as the Maryland Charm bolted to a 7-4 lead and held on to beat the California Palms 16-13 in the inaugural Women’s Lacrosse League championship, played in Philadelphia and televised by ESPN.
“I’m grateful that I was able to be a part of the first-ever (women’s pro) league,’’ Duffy said. “I think there’s just so much more to come.’’
In a short four-game regular season for all WLL teams, Duffy finished second in points (20), tied for third in goals (11), tied for second in assists (9), second in shots (37), fourth in shots on goal (24), tops, by far, in touches (198) and sixth in groundballs (24).
A month ago, Duffy posted seven goals and three assists to lead Maryland over the Boston Guard to clinch a spot in Saturday’s final. Two weeks later, Duffy was in Tokyo, leading the United States senior team to the World Lacrosse Women’s championship; two years ago, she was on the USA Under-20 team that won the world title in Hong Kong.
“It’s definitely been a complete whirlwind, for sure,’’ Duffy said. “It’s been really fun though.’’
Duffy cherished her time with the U.S. senior team in Japan.
“It was amazing,’’ she said. “Having the opportunity to travel to Tokyo was something I never thought I’d be able to do, let alone with some of my closest friends that I’ve been able to build relationships over the past couple of years.’’
As expected, the Americans thoroughly dominated, but Duffy said this team did not take the title for granted ahead of time.
“Our head coach always talked about how she wanted our team to be the best U.S. team that has ever been,’’ Duffy said. “I know we took a lot of pride in that and we wanted to display the best version of lacrosse that we could, and that meant treating all of our opponents the same and giving them our best at every moment. We definitely did that and we were able to come out with a gold medal.’’
As a youngster, Duffy never envisioned she would have an opportunity to play lacrosse professionally or represent her country. But her competitive drive and ability to excel both as a soccer player and a lacrosse star brought her to West Point, and she leaves with a myriad of program records in both sports.
She led the nation in game-winning goals (eight of her 15) for soccer, was named the Patriot League’s offensive player of the year (and three-time all-star) and finished with 73 career points.
For lacrosse, she established Army career marks for goals (259, also Patriot League mark, and ranked No. 11 in all of the NCAA), draw controls (366), caused turnovers (128), shots (612), shots on goal (397). Her single-season marks include goals (77 this season), which helped make her a Tewaaraton Award finalist (the Heisman Trophy of lacrosse).
As a senior, she led both the Army soccer and lacrosse teams to Patriot League tourney championships and berths into the NCAA tournament. Duffy was named lacrosse All-American for the fourth time, won the 2026 Coach K award and coveted Army Athletic Association award.
Duffy was drafted third overall by the Women’s Lacrosse League, and fit right into a loaded Maryland lineup that included some of her Team USA teammates.
“It’s been super, super fun to play in the professional league,’’ she said. “It’s definitely a step up from college lacrosse, more physicality. The speed of the game is faster, and it’s just amazing to be able to play with such great players and all the games as well. It’s been a really cool transition.’’
Duffy will be returning to West Point soon to serve as an athletic intern with the Army women’s lacrosse team until January. She will head to basic training for courses in engineering for six months before reporting to Fort Stewart, Georgia. All the while, she will likely be permitted to continue her lacrosse career in between assignments, and will be expected to serve five years of active military duty.
“I think there’s definitely some questions ahead of what the rest of my career will be,’’ Duffy said, “But I think at this point I’m just trying to make the most of my young age while I can play lacrosse and still have my legs feel fresh.
“It's such a pivotal moment for women's lacrosse,’’ she added. “I'm hoping I can just be one of those figures or faces that can either inspire others to continue playing while pursuing other goals of theirs and just put the game on display and show how fun it is.’’
X / Twitter: @KenMcMillanTHR
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Army two-sport star Brigid Duffy leads team to women's lacrosse title
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