Boston Legacy FC announced Wednesday that it has opted to renew Laís Araújo’s contract through 2027.
The 30-year-old initially signed a one-year contract with a club option.
The team captain was sidelined with a thigh injury at the beginning of the season and made her debut against the North Carolina Courage at the end of April. She has started every game since then, evidence of the trust head coach Filipa Patão has in her.
“[Her] capacity to communicate and to lead the defense is something that brings us comfort and helps the team to grow,” the coach said Wednesday.
Araújo is in her fourth season with Patão as her coach; the two were previously at Benfica in Portugal. The defender came into this expansion side already familiar with the coaching style and expectations, which proved invaluable as the rest of her teammates acclimated to a new environment.
Her presence on the defensive line inspires confidence, according to Sammy Smith.
“[Her insight has] helped everyone else understand what we want to accomplish on the field, and having that in the back line, it just trickles to each line of our team, like midfield and forward,” Smith said.
The team is big on resiliency, and Araújo was able to demonstrate her own even when sidelined.
“Showing the team the work she put in to come back and to perform the way she's performing, that's great leadership, and I think everybody has been feeding off of that,” Goalkeeper Laurel Ivory said. “We need her. She showed up in really big moments, she reads the game like a veteran, and I think that presence is huge on the field.”
