Quarterback, soccer standout, lacrosse champion: Laurel Gonzalez is a true triple threat, racking up athletic and academic honors.
The Torrey Pines High School senior helped her team win an open district championship and was named CIF Lacrosse Player of the Year last spring, flag football Player of the Year in the fall and soccer Player of the Year in the winter. It was. She is the first San Diego athlete to win Athlete of the Year in three different sports.
Currently participating in the lacrosse season playoffs to defend last year's championship, Laurel was also recently named Torrey Pines Female Scholar Athlete of the Year.
Laurel Gonzalez, Torrey Pines Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year;
(Anna Scipione)
“Laurel is definitely an outstanding athlete and it has been my pleasure to watch her develop into an exceptional leader,” said Torrey Pines Soccer Coach Martin Hansford. “Laurel embodies all of the values and attributes that coaches look for in their players. Her calm demeanor and quiet confidence are contagious and are key to our success. In times of adversity, athletes find ways to lead their teams to victory. What has always impressed me since coaching Laurel is her joy in playing the sport and being part of a team. is.”
This fall, Laurel will play Big Ten lacrosse at Johns Hopkins University.
Growing up in a “sports fanatic” family, Laurel participated in almost every sport and activity from an early age. She took up sports easily and enjoyed playing, often watching her older sisters play from the sidelines and tossing a soccer ball with her father.
She played soccer for the Del Mar/Carmel Valley Sharks before switching to the San Diego Force and playing on the 2005 and 2004 teams. She also started playing recreational lacrosse in first grade.
“I've always been very interested in soccer. That was my dream,” Laurel said. “I wanted to be on the U.S. Women's National Team, and I thought I was going to play in college until the ninth grade. Then I realized, 'I'm kind of good at lacrosse,' and then lacrosse became my main sport. ”
From recreational lacrosse, Laurel started playing club lacrosse in the 6th grade. She played for the West Coast Stars, which became Coast Lacrosse, and was then scouted by the Mad Dog West Elite.
Thanks to Mad Dog, Laurel has had the opportunity to develop her lacrosse skills by traveling and playing a lot around the East Coast in tournaments and summer camps. “It’s a whole different game over there,” she said.
As a midfielder, Laurel said his strengths are his game IQ and vision. “I do a lot of off-ball movement, but I'm not necessarily a ball controller. I've been able to move more off-the-ball and become more savvy,” she said.
On May 3, the savvy midfielder scored the 200th goal of his high school lacrosse career.
Laurel stopped playing club soccer during her sophomore year to shift her focus to lacrosse, but continued to play soccer for the Falcons. As a forward who “dominated the ball”, she was one of the team's top scorers.
One of the great moments in her high school career was winning the Division 1 championship in 2022. Although she was playing on her JV, she was selected to her varsity team midway through the season. “She even scored some goals in the championship game,” Laurel offered.
Let's go on record as saying that Laurel actually scored a hat trick in the upset win.
Laurel, happily busy with sports, had time this fall to participate in the really fun first season of women's flag football. She had some soccer experience playing on Friday Night Lights as a young girl as a member of the Carmel Valley League's first women's team. She beat them many times,” she recalls.
Laurel was the starting quarterback for the Falcons, who had an undefeated season and reached the championship game, but unfortunately lost for the first time. “It was still a good run,” Laurel said. “I’ve always loved football…The opportunity to actually play it in high school was great.”
When it comes to playing at the next level, Laurel has narrowed it down to three big and impressive top choices between Harvard, Cornell, and Johns Hopkins.
Playing for the Blue Jays ultimately won out, as Johns Hopkins not only had great academics to help him succeed, but also great energy on the lacrosse side. When she visited her school, she felt really welcomed by the girls on the team and she was impressed.
It's going to be very competitive in the Big Ten, but she's very excited.
Although lacrosse is her main focus, Laurel said continuing to play a variety of sports, rather than just specializing, has prepared her in all aspects as an athlete. She credits her strong stick skills in lacrosse to the hand-eye coordination she gained from sports such as basketball.
“It helps you grow and become more well-rounded,” she said. “That's something everyone should pursue.”
Some of her teammates, like Torrey Pines lacrosse teammate Camille Samarasinghe, played alongside Laurel on the women's flag football team when they were younger and are multi-sport threats.
That's not an easy answer for Laurel when asked what her best memory is of playing in a Torrey Pines jersey.
“I'm both happy and sad because I think it's such a difficult question,” Laurel said. “Definitely my favorite memory is this past lacrosse season championship. Personally, it was a great game. I love lacrosse, I had some of my best friends on that team, and it was my first win in a while. It was very special to win.”
Torrey Pines is the top seed in the lacrosse playoffs, and Laurel expects they might face rival Coronado in the finals, that is, if they advance, but she's taking nothing for granted. I'm careful not to.
She has high hopes for one more championship to cap off an incredibly successful high school career. “If we can do that, everything will be great.”
