Brigid Duffy is one-of-a-kind student athlete at United States Military Academy. There aren’t many others out there doing what she does on and off the field at West Point.

“I was definitely looking for a college that was outside of the box,” said Duffy, a sophomore midfielder for the Army Women’s Lacrosse team. “It’s a tough school. It’s a tough place to go through, but everyone is going through the same challenges as you.”

On the field, Duffy is currently leading the Army women’s lacrosse team in goals and points on the season, just like the Queensbury native did in the fall with the women’s soccer team.

“It was definitely a learning curve. But I’m grateful for it,” Duffy said. 

It’s something she has been doing her whole life, and with plenty of competition as the second oldest of 10 children in her family. 

“It started at a young age, whether it was playing in the backyard with my siblings, playing basketball in the front yard, lacrosse, hockey, soccer,” said Duffy, who lived at West Point briefly as a kid. “It definitely translated to my competitive qualities I have.”

She was originally recruited by Army for lacrosse. While Duffy could no longer be a four-sport athlete like she was in high school, she believed she could still do two of them. So as her freshman year began, Duffy decided to try out for soccer. 

“You can tell there was something different when she stepped on the field, when she was playing,” said Tracy Chao, head coach of the Army Women’s Soccer team. “She just had such an athletic presence, technique awareness and tactical vision, that we were like ‘this is somebody who can come in and help us.’”

Impressed, Chao got on the phone with lacrosse head coach Michelle Tumolo and made Duffy’s vision a reality. 

“I wish I was a two-sport athlete in college. I was a three-sport, four-sport athlete my whole life. So once I connected with Tracy Chao, who’s my best friend here, the soccer coach, it was all easy for us,” Tumolo said. 

“She was just like ‘any female that has the ability to do both and if you really think that she can compete, then absolutely. Let’s make it happen,’” Chao said. 

Duffy would average about 44 minutes a game with three goals and two assists her freshman season on the pitch, before going on to set the single-season record with 82 points in lacrosse and becoming the first All-American in program history. 

“It was definitely a little overwhelming but knowing that I have so many of my other teammates going through the same process as me, and coming off of basic training during the summer before plebe year,” Duffy said. 

Of course, she’s also balancing the two sports on top of her cadet duties and responsibilities as a life science major. Duffy says getting whatever rest she can is the key to making this all work. 

“I don’t get a lot of that switching between seasons, so just taking the time off that I can,” she said. 

Once her duo-sports days come to an end, Duffy plans to pursue medical school after graduation.