Laurel Ansbrow

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Laurel Ansbrow
FSU at Wake 2024 - 034 (Ansbrow).jpg
Ansbrow with Wake Forest in 2024
Personal information
Full name Laurel Marie Ansbrow [1]
Date of birth (2003-04-10) April 10, 2003 (age 22) [2]
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Position Center back
Team information
Current team
 Boston Legacy
Youth career
North Carolina Courage
College career
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2021–2024 Wake Forest Demon Deacons 66 (2)
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2022–2023 North Carolina Courage U23 19 (0)
2025 Fort Lauderdale United 15 (0)
2026– Boston Legacy 0 (0)
2025 → Fort Lauderdale United (loan) 14 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of December 21, 2025

Laurel Marie Ansbrow (born April 10, 2003) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a center back for Boston Legacy FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She played college soccer for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons and helped the team to its first national title game appearance in 2024.

Contents

Early life

Ansbrow grew up Cary, North Carolina, the younger of two daughters born to Jane and Mark Ansbrow. She played club soccer for the North Carolina Courage Academy, becoming team captain and earning ECNL all-conference honors twice. [2] [3] She committed to Wake Forest during her junior year at Apex High School, where she was also an all-conference selection. [2] [4]

College career

Ansbrow became a starter for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in her sophomore year in 2022, leading the team in minutes played that season and the following one. In her senior year in 2024, she helped Wake Forest achieve one of its best-ever seasons, playing alongside Zara Chavoshi in central defense. In the regular season, back-to-back shutouts against No. 2 Virginia and No. 1 Stanford made Wake Forest the first team to beat the top two ranked teams consecutively; another win against Florida State ended a 32–game unbeaten streak for the reigning champions. [2] [5] Wake Forest broke its program record from the previous year with only 11 goals allowed in the regular season. [6] In the NCAA tournament, she helped Wake Forest to its first national title game in program history, beating Stanford 1–0 in the semifinals before losing 1–0 to North Carolina in the final. [2] [7] Ansbrow was named the No. 70 player of the 2024 season by TopDrawerSoccer and received the Elite 90 Award for having the highest grade point average (4.0) at the NCAA College Cup. In three seasons as a starter, she played in 64 games (61 starts) and scored 2 goals. [2] [6]

During college, Ansbrow played for the North Carolina Courage U23 in the USL W League and was named in the Team of the Year after leading the Courage to the national final in 2023. [8]

Club career

Fort Lauderdale United

Fort Lauderdale United announced on January 23, 2025, that the club had signed Ansbrow to her first professional contract through the rest of the USL Super League's inaugural season. [9] She made her professional debut on February 8, playing the entire match and assisting Jasmine Hamid in a 2–2 draw against the Tampa Bay Sun. [10] She appeared on the field for every minute of United's spring games as the club placed fourth in the inaugural standings. [11] The league named Ansbrow to the Team of the Month after both of her first two months. [12] In the playoffs, she played the entirety of two extra-time contests as United won 2–1 against the Carolina Ascent in the semifinals but lost 1–0 to the Tampa Bay Sun in the final. [11]

Boston Legacy

On July 17, 2025, National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) expansion team Boston Legacy announced that the club had signed Ansbrow to a two-and-a-half-year deal with the team option to extend another year. [13] Before the Legacy began play in 2026, she returned to Fort Lauderdale United on loan and played every minute for the club in all but one game over the entire year. [10]

Honors and awards

Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Fort Lauderdale United FC

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "2021-2022 ACC Academic Honor Roll" (PDF). Atlantic Coast Conference. June 30, 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 4, 2025. Retrieved June 9, 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Laurel Ansbrow". Wake Forest Demon Deacons . Retrieved June 9, 2025.
  3. ↑ "ECNL All Conference Mid-Atlantic". Elite Clubs National League. August 31, 2021. Archived from the original on September 20, 2024. Retrieved June 9, 2025– via TopDrawerSoccer .
  4. ↑ Shealer, Sheldon (March 9, 2020). "Recruiting Roundup: March 9–15". TopDrawerSoccer . Archived from the original on August 19, 2022. Retrieved June 9, 2025.
  5. ↑ Olorunfemi, Victor (December 3, 2024). "Wake Forest's Path to Women's College Cup". TopDrawerSoccer . Archived from the original on June 3, 2025. Retrieved January 13, 2025.
  6. 1 2 Shackelford, Dylan (December 4, 2024). "Laurel Ansbrow Wins Elite 90™ Award for NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship". Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Archived from the original on May 4, 2025. Retrieved June 9, 2025.
  7. ↑ Olorunfemi, Victor (December 9, 2024). "College Cup: Women's Final Preview". TopDrawerSoccer . Archived from the original on June 27, 2025. Retrieved January 13, 2025.
  8. ↑ "USL W League announces 2023 Team of the Year". USL W League. August 2, 2023. Archived from the original on June 13, 2024. Retrieved June 9, 2025.
  9. ↑ "Fort Lauderdale United FC signs Wake Forest defender Laurel Ansbrow". USL Super League. January 23, 2025. Archived from the original on January 23, 2025. Retrieved June 9, 2025.
  10. 1 2 "Laurel Ansbrow". flashscore.com. Retrieved December 26, 2025.
  11. 1 2 "Fort Lauderdale United FC – 2024/2025". soccerway.com. Retrieved August 30, 2025.
  12. ↑ "USL Super League Team of the Month – March". USL Super League. April 3, 2025. Archived from the original on April 6, 2025. Retrieved June 9, 2025.
  13. ↑ Bird, Hayden (July 17, 2025). "Boston Legacy FC announce pair of signings as roster continues to take shape". Boston.com . Retrieved July 17, 2025.
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