USU Eastern soccer player dies in car crash

*Audio clip is the voice of Lauren Bradshaw’s teammates, Addy Brimhall.

On Oct. 22, Lauren Bradshaw, a Utah State University Eastern Women’s Soccer player, died in an automobile crash.

The police report said Bradshaw was driving through Price Canyon during a snowstorm on her way home. For an unknown reason, she left her lane and hit a Ford F-350 heading the opposite direction.

The USU Eastern chief campus administrator, Greg Dart, sent out a statement a few days after the crash.

“On behalf of the entire USU Eastern campus community, athletics department, and women’s soccer team, we send our love and condolences to Lauren’s family, friends, teammates and coaches,” he wrote. “We are devastated by this heartbreaking news and are assisting students, coaches, teammates and friends during this trying time. Lauren will always be a part of our campus community.”

Bradshaw was 18 years old and a first-year defender on the team. She had torn her ACL in April, so she had not been playing with the team until she was cleared to start warming up and doing small non-contact drills during the past few weeks.

The team celebrated Bradshaw and honored her life during its game on Oct. 27. 

Before the game started, both teams had a moment of silence for her. Members of the team also wrote her name and number on their wrists and legs.

Stickers were put on their chests above their hearts that read “LB #30.” The outfit was tied off with a purple ribbon in their hair — Bradshaw’s favorite color.

Whenever the team scored, they pointed to the sky saying, “So good,” which was Bradshaw’s catchphrase.

The team also put her practice jersey on the bench to remember she is there for them, even if she isn’t physically.

Katy Smith, one of Bradshaw’s close friends, said she had a lot of interests.

“She loves baking,” Smith said. “She always baked bread every week —loves the outdoors.”

She said Bradshaw had big aspirations for the future too.

“She was really into fashion,” Smith said. “She wanted to be a fashion designer and design clothes and go into business with that.”

Addy Brimhall, one of Bradshaw’s teammates and close friend, said one word to describe her would be “positive.” Brimhall said Bradshaw’s passing left a positive impact on the team. 

“Our team became so much stronger together. We were really struggling with our egos and our positions —whether we were starting or sitting on the bench,” Brimhall said. “But after Lauren passed, our team became so much closer. We were all with each other and all including each other, whether or not we were starting.”

About a week before Bradshaw died, she and Brimhall worked together on creating a to-do list of things they wanted to accomplish.

Both Brimhall and Smith said they decided to honor Bradshaw in their own way by finishing the list they made together.

They both plan on creating a banner that will read “So Good” in their rooms to remember her.

“We need to live like Lauren,” Bradshaw’s mother, Vera Lyn, said in the team’s group chat.

You can find Bradshaw’s obituary here.

— Jack.Johnson@usu.edu

Featured photo from USU Eastern Athletics