Kayla Duran (Woburn, Mass.) scored 63 goals during her scholastic career at Buckingham Browne & Nichols School, so, naturally, when she arrived for her first year with the Boston College women’s soccer team in 2018, she became a defender.
Of course, that is an oversimplification of events for Duran, who was named to the ACC All-Freshman Team and started all 20 matches as a defender.
Nevertheless, she is willing to do whatever it takes to succeed, on and off the pitch, and be forward-thinking about the process.
When Duran transferred to Brown University from BC to take advantage of its open curriculum, without a competitive soccer drop-off, she was initially slotted in as a center midfielder, before eventually settling in at center back, where she was named Ivy League Defender of the Year in 2021 and helped the Bears to their second straight regular-season title and 14th overall.