Boston Legacy FC and
General Manager Domè Guasch
continue to fill out the team’s first-ever roster, announcing the signings of the club’s first two defenders on Thursday.
Coming in are two 22-year-olds with plenty of high-level college experience, Laurel Ansbrow and Emerson Elgin. Both are signed through the 2027 season, and Ansbrow’s deal included a team option for 2028.
The duo faced off a number of times in college as they each helped form two of the top defenses in the ACC. Ansbrow, a three-year starter for Wake Forest, helped transform the Demon Deacons and brought them 26 wins across the last two seasons.
Ansbrow even made it to the 2024 National Championship with Wake Forest, but fell 1-0 to Elgin’s University of North Carolina squad.
After tearing her quad her freshman season, Elgin made 73 appearances for the Tar Heels over the next three years, winning 45 games including a national title.
Aside from their collegiate play, both Ansbrow and Elgin have played in the professional ranks as well. Ansbrow previously played for the North Carolina Courage U23 team in 2023, and currently plays for Ft. Lauderdale United in the USL Super League where she will remain on loan for the remainder of the season.
Elgin as well got some action with the Courage U23 team, playing for them in 2024. Following her collegiate season, she got a chance with Gotham FC, signing with the team on a short-term injury replacement contract in April.
She did not make an appearance for Gotham however and her contract expired. Like Ansbrow, Elgin will finish the 2025 season on loan in the USLSL, playing for Tampa Bay United.
“Laurel brings a real defensive intensity to our back line. She’s also confident on the ball, which fits perfectly with how we want to build from the back,” Guasch said. “Emerson gives us an attacking threat from the left back. Her offensive mentality fits exactly what we want from our outside backs, and she comes from a winning environment at UNC that has shaped her into a competitor.
“We are confident that under Filipa’s guidance both Emerson and Laurel will continue to grow and make an impact here.”
