Flagstaff senior Karina Fuhrmann earns Daily Sun soccer athlete of the year honors | Local

ERIC NEWMAN Sun Sports Editor

Senior Karina Fuhrmann impacted winning teams immensely over four years of playing with Flagstaff girls soccer. The Eagles, with her in the midfield, recorded a state title in 2020, a semifinal appearance in 2021 and two quarterfinal appearances in 2019 and 2022.

This season, she was a leader for the Eagles, who went 13-0 in the regular season, earning the No. 2 seed in the 4A Conference playoffs, before falling to a last-minute goal in the quarterfinals to Salpointe Catholic, which went on to win the title. Fuhrmann was named Grand Canyon Region First Team.

The Eagles scored 109 goals, including 13 regular season games and an 11-0 victory over No. 15 Tempe in the first round of the playoffs. As an important distributor for the Eagles, Fuhrmann was in on a lot of them.

She often initiated the offense, playing give-and-gos with the plethora of talented offensive players on Flagstaff’s roster or making passes forward for her teammates to run onto.

“That’s probably my favorite part. That’s my main job to do, and whenever I play a good ball and something positive happens from it, it’s a great feeling,” Fuhrmann said.

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Her stat line – 10 goals and seven assists – does not immediately jump out as dominant, but her play on the field consisted of more than just numbers.

“If you look at the goals that we’ve had, especially the 35 in the region, the majority of those came from the distribution from our middle. And a lot of them were initiated with her,” said coach Savannah Berry. “It may not have been the true assist from her, but composed between our back line staying, getting the ball up to her, and then her getting it to teammates, a lot of the success came from her play.”

A quiet leader, Fuhrmann was not the one often yelling or loudly encouraging teammates in tough moments. Often, just like her play showed, she was happy to be part of a winning formula.

“She’s always working off the ball. You don’t have to worry about her getting back to play defense. She loves her teammates so much, so she never wants to be the problem. She wants to be able to be involved in helping and being a solution. You can’t teach the hard work she has and the coachability she shows on the field,” Berry said.

Though the Eagles had a legitimate shot to compete for a state title this season and were a bit disappointed with the ending, Fuhrmann said there were many positives to take away from the season.

Chief among them was a 4-2 road win at rival Prescott on Feb. 1. The Badgers defeated the Eagles, 2-1 in overtime, in the 2021 semifinals. So, to beat Prescott soundly and secure the Grand Canyon Region Title with a perfect 6-0 record was rewarding.

“That has been our goal for a long time, to step up against Prescott and beat them. So it felt really good to do that,” Fuhrmann said.

Now, with her remaining time in high school, Fuhrmann will play club soccer and continue practicing for a shot at a roster spot on a college team. Reflecting on four years at Flagstaff, she said the last season ended abruptly, but that she hoped the effort from herself and the other graduating seniors will leave a legacy that allows the Eagles to continue competing for titles in future seasons.

“Coming into the season we expected that we were going to be a really good team. And we expected to get really far, but it didn’t turn out how we wanted it to. I think next year they have a really good chance again though,” Fuhrmann said.

Fuhrmann said she has ‘A few’ opportunities with college soccer programs, but has not yet picked where she will play at the next level.

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