Norwin grad Emily Harrigan starting fresh at Pitt after injury-plagued stint at Rutgers

Calling her next move “a leap of faith,” Emily Harrigan is giving her college soccer career a restart as she gets set to play for Pitt this fall.

The former Norwin star who was a two-time Tribune-Review Player of the Year, Harrigan had her patience tested numerous times as injuries kept slowing her journey at Rutgers.

One thing after another, like a chain reaction meant to keep her off the field.

But with each setback seemed to come another open door. While she enjoyed her time at Rutgers and made friends and memories, she decided to walk through one of those doors.

“When you enter the (NCAA) transfer portal, you kind of have this vision of what you want to do,” Harrigan said. “I wanted to come home and play for my city. You can have it all set up, but sometimes it doesn’t work out. This worked out in my favor, and I now have a clean slate.”

Harrigan, 22, tore her left hamstring in her first game as a freshman at Rutgers, sidelining her for six months.

“I never dealt with injuries during my high school career, so this was something new,” she said. “I’m five hours away from home not knowing what to do or how to handle it. I was just getting started.”

Then she reinjured her hamstring as a sophomore, setting her back even more, before a freak injury hit her like she was cursed.

During a practice, a teammate whom she was defending fired a shot that hit her squarely on her right arm, breaking two bones.

Really?

“It was crazy,” Harrigan said. “Even my doctor said he had never seen an injury happen that way in soccer. Maybe softball, but not soccer. She tried to shoot right through me.”

The pandemic soon followed: “I’m just like, honestly?” she said.

“I love soccer, and I had a great experience at Rutgers,” Harrigan said. “This was one of the hardest decisions I had to make. But I needed a change and a fresh start. I didn’t want to have to stretch it out for three years. It was now or never.”

A redshirt sophomore, Harrigan comes to Pitt with three years of athletic eligibility.

Since 2018, Harrigan played in 24 games, with 10 starts. She had a goal and an assist in ’19.

She played in seven games in the spring. A public health major who will study exercise science at Pitt, Harrigan was selected to the Academic All-Big Ten team.

“Pitt’s program is growing, and they’re young,” Harrigan said. “I didn’t get to (transfer) until June, so it all happened pretty fast. But I love going to train with the girls every day at 7 a.m.

“Although some of them can’t believe I’m 22. They’re like, well I’m only 20.”

A 93-goal scorer at Norwin, where she won two WPIAL titles and a PIAA championship, she is a former United Soccer All-American.

Having three other Norwin alums on Pitt also encouraged Harrigan to come home: Katelyn Kauffman, Lacey Bernick and Eva Frankovic.

Harrigan also was in contact with other Division I programs, including Xavier and Tennessee, but Pitt won out.

She is commuting to practice over the summer as she works at a local personal care home.

She plans to graduate in May but would have two more years to play. Whether she plays them is up in the air.

“I want to go to PA school,” she said. “So we’ll have to see what happens and how this year goes. I know I will have a decision to make. It’s nice to have that. My parents said I am as happy as I have ever been. I know I am so much more than a soccer player.”

Pitt coach Randy Waldrum said he appreciates Harrigan wanting to be part of “what we’re building.”

“She brings experience to our team,” he said. “And more attacking talent to a team that has been adding attacking flair the past few years. She’s highly competitive and committed to what we are all about.”