For women's soccer's Brock, a long route back to College Park

Sitting outside Stamp Student Union back in May as she waited for her daughter, Hayley, to finish visiting with the Terrapins women's soccer team, Laura Brock was taken aback by what she saw.

The diversity of the campus was unlike any place she'd ever seen before, not in Hayley's hometown of Acton, Mass., and not at Penn State, where she was finishing her freshman year. Laura pined for a place like this university for her daughter.

Then she looked at her phone. It was a text message from Hayley: "I think I want to come here."

By the end of the month, she'd made it official. It was a circuitous path for the younger Brock, one that took her from the brink of College Park to State College, Pa., and back to College Park, where she now finds herself as a starting forward for the No. 17 Terps.

And yet, it almost never happened in the first place.

The Terps, who heavily recruited her out of Acton-Boxborough Regional High School, had Brock down for multiple visits and worked their way into her list of top schools along with Penn State and ACC rival Boston College. Brock said coach Brian Pensky and the Terps made an early impression on her, just not one that would last through the process.

"To be honest, I thought that her heart then was really with Maryland," Pensky said. "We'd developed a good relationship with her and she with our entire coaching staff. I think her and her whole family really loved everything about Maryland. I was surprised we didn't get her the first go-round."

When Brock made the decision to become a Nittany Lion, it seemed like a natural fit for her. She had played with many of the players at the club level and had a relationship with the coach, Erica Walsh, from her time playing on regional teams.

But despite capturing a share of its 13th straight Big Ten title, Penn State finished with an 11-9-1 record, its most losses since 1997.

On paper, Brock succeeded. As a part-time starter and season-long contributor, she scored six goals and finished the year with 15 points, marks that ranked fourth on the team.

But the Nittany Lions' playing style and team chemistry didn't quite suit Brock, and she decided to look elsewhere. After visiting the Terps in early May, Brock canceled the rest of her recruiting visits and ended up where she could have been all along.

"These girls are making decisions as sophomores and juniors and they won't know where they will be in another year," Laura Brock said. "A school that seems like it would be perfect ends up not being perfect two years in for whatever reason."

Unlike higher-profile sports such as football and basketball, soccer players who transfer do not have to sit out for a year under NCAA bylaws. The rule, which Pensky said he supports wholeheartedly, has allowed not only Brock to contribute immediately this season, but also transfers Kristin Schimdbauer (UNC-Greensboro)and Remi Kriz (Purdue).

"They're making these early decisions, so now, at 18, 19, they're second-guessing the decisions they made," Pensky said. "They should have an opportunity to almost re-think that choice, as so long as they're responsible and smart and honest and up-front with all the respective individuals in that transferring process, I think it makes sense."

Brock said her transition to life as a Terp has been smooth, and she's made her presence felt on the field, scoring four goals and recording 12 points, good for second on the team. She also leads the team in assists with four.

In her first start Sept. 22 against Boston College, Brock scored a goal in the ninth minute, and at Clemson on Sept. 29, she helped set up a goal by Danielle Hubka in the second minute of play.

"She's just so athletic," forward Jasmyne Spencer said. "She's a workhorse. She never stops running. She puts pressure on backlines that we haven't really had in a couple years."

Pensky started Spencer and Brock as the Terps' two forwards against Clemson, a combination he could return to in future games, especially as Spencer returns from injuries that sidelined her for two weeks.

"[Brock is] another weapon in our arsenal," Spencer said. "Now teams have to worry about three or four of our attackers instead of one or two in the past. It's definitely keeping backlines on their toes."