Laura Hurd was a standout women’s ice hockey player for Elmira College from 2001-05 and was arguably one of the most prolific players of all time in Division III. She was a four-time AHCA First-Team All-American and the winner of the 2005 National Player of the Year, an award that would later be renamed in her memory.
She led the nation in scoring in 2002 with 77 points to garner her first of two ECAC West Player of the Year honors, guiding the Soaring Eagles to their first-ever NCAA Division III National Championship. Hurd finished fifth in the country in points the following season, as she helped Elmira secure back-to-back national titles.
Hurd’s first two seasons set the stage for what blossomed into one of, if not, the finest hockey careers in all of Division III history. She went on to be a four-time ECAC West All-Conference First-Team recipient and a two-time winner of the ECAC West Player of the Year Award (2002, 2005). Hurd still owns a plethora of Division III records including: 77 single-season points (2002), 2.75 single-season points per game (2002), 40 single-season goals (2002), 237 career points, 2.15 career goals per game, 120 career goals, 117 career assists, and 1.06 career assists per game.
Sadly, we were forced to say goodbye to Laura too soon, as she tragically passed away at the age of 24 in a car accident on the morning of June 23, 2006.
The memory of the former Elmira College standout lives on however in the form of the Laura Hurd Player of the Year Award, presented annually to the top women’s ice hockey player in Division III by the American Hockey Coaches Association.