Boston Legacy FC’s Sophia Lowenberg will be missing training on Monday, but for good reason.
The 22-year-old will be graduating from Boston College and receiving her communication degree, just months after signing her professional contract.
Lowenberg has spent the past few months taking a full course load to finish her last undergraduate semester while also juggling the responsibilities that come with being a professional athlete.
In many ways, her recent day-to-day resembled the routine she was already accustomed to as a student athlete.
She took 12 credits this semester and enrolled in forensic psychology, storytelling, and social construct classes, as well as an independent study course. Aside from one asynchronous online class, she attended the rest on campus on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays.
She would wake up at 6 a.m., head to Legacy practice in Foxboro, then drive 26 miles to Chestnut Hill for her afternoon classes before driving another 20 miles back to her new apartment.
The worst part for Lowenberg, and what many commuters are familiar with: Boston traffic.
“I’ve learned it doesn’t matter what time of day it is,” she griped. “It’s always rush hour after like 1 p.m.”
The workload and long days were stressful to manage and she often found herself losing track of what day of the week it was.
“In terms of school and keeping my assignments all together, [it] was definitely a little challenging,” she said. “I'm also not the most put-together person, I'd say, but just remembering to do my work and remembering that my job isn't just to play soccer was definitely a lot.”
For Lowenberg, going pro had always been the goal. Getting on the Legacy’s radar was a result of her talent as well as being in the right place at the right time.
Lowenberg had been called in to join Vermont Green FC’s women’s exhibition games in June 2025 and was coached by World Cup champion Sam Mewis, who is now on the Legacy’s Athlete Advisory Board.
After the last match, Mewis encouraged Lowenberg to pursue the sport beyond college soccer. Legacy general manager Domè Guasch was coincidentally nearby, and Mewis introduced the two.
“And so I turned to Domè, and as a joke, I was like, ‘Hi, my name is Sophia Rose Lowenberg, please sign me.’ And then I ran away with my friends,” she told The Blazing Musket. “I was being so childish, like, it was a complete joke.”
And it worked out. Lowenberg and the club began conversations shortly after her last game of the season, and her two-year contract was announced over a month later in December. She was the team’s first college player signing from a local university.
“I love Boston, and I wanted to live here post grad,” she said. “I really wanted to stay here, so I was really thankful for that.”
Both the university and team were accommodating and understanding when she expressed wanting to finish her degree. The only time she missed school was when the club spent preseason in Florida and Spain, but even then she was completing assignments and meeting with her professors.
As the rookie transitions to the next phase of her life, there are two things she will miss from college.
“Being in college, living your life, going to the dining hall and doing everything together, because you kind of have to, I think I'll definitely miss that,” she said.
Lowenberg moved into team housing after signing her contract and has had to adjust to living by herself and rarely seeing her friends.
“There are times where you just want to, like, flip over and talk to your roommate, but I don't have that anymore,” she said.
Though her college social life wasn’t the same this semester, she has made friends on her new team and says she and Chloe Ricketts often grab coffee together.
In terms of what she’ll miss about collegiate soccer: the grit.
“[It’s] the way that you can hit on the field and not get a yellow card every time,” she mentioned.
And that will be another adjustment she will have to make. With help from teammates that have NWSL experience, she’s beginning to understand how the game is played in the league and the justification for certain calls on the field.
The rookie has yet to make her Legacy debut, but now that she doesn’t have to worry about school, Lowenberg is excited to fully focus on soccer.
“I have a lot to learn and do to get better to see the field right now,” she said. “I can put all my effort … into figuring out who I am as a player in this league and what my role is.”
Rest assured, Lowenberg will be putting in the work. Over her four years at BC, she’s learned that she can’t rely solely on her natural talent to get by.
“Now that I've gone through college, [work ethic] became a big part of me as a soccer player and just as a person,” she said. “It's not all just going to come to you, and even if it does, at some point that's going to fail.”
On a team where mentality is a defining factor, she knows it will take consistency, reliability, and tenacity to make it into the lineup, and she’s ready to prove herself.
