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Curran, Navy’s all-time assist leader (42) who has also second all-time with 118 points and fourth with 38 career goals, is just the fourth women’s soccer player to earn the award since its inception in 1980, and the first since 2003.

‘‘I got a really nice, expensive sword with my name on it,” said Curran, who helped the Bethesda Fury travel team win the Under-16 national tournament in 2001. ‘‘I was really not expecting that by any means. To think that out of my class I’ve had the most impact on Navy sports, that’s a huge honor.

‘‘I really have to thank all my teammates. They really helped me get that. It’s not like running track where you do it all yourself. All those assists, there was someone on the other end scoring a goal. I’m really just excited and really honored.”

As with many elite athletes, injuries have been a big part of Curran’s college soccer career — she’s had two ACL and two meniscus surgeries. They’re frustrating and hard to recover from. But Curran, who left Tuesday for Pensacola, Fla. where she’ll attend flight school for two years in the hopes of becoming a Navy Flight Officer, is driven.

Rather than harp on detriments, Curran embraced the opportunity to alter her game to adhere to her ailments — she lost some speed but worked to polish her foot skills. And, she credits that with helping her become more successful.

‘‘I never thought of not going back,” Curran said. ‘‘The most frustrating thing was what it did to my game. I used to be that fast girl. I’d ask my teammates to put the ball in space and I’d get there. Now I ask them to put it at my feet.

‘‘But I think it’s help me become a more well-rounded player. Like, sophomore year I was a scoring threat. But I started to work hard on my foot skills. And I became better at finding my teammates and became the one who was assisting more. I think it made it harder for teams to work just on me, they didn’t really know what to do.”

Curran is a soccer fanatic. She thrives off the competition and pressures of being a go-to player. She revels in the camaraderie she’s built with her teammates. And, even though her college career has ended, she’ll likely never be done with the sport.

This spring Curran teamed with former University of Virginia star and current Washington Freedom midfielder Kelly Hammond to coach a Freestate Soccer Club U-9 girls team. And coaching is a route she’s definitely eager to take.

But, even though she’s been advised to lay off the competitive soccer, Curran isn’t done just yet. She was recently named to the All Armed Forces women’s soccer team — only 18 of about 60 who tried out made the team — and will compete at the All Army World Games in India in October.

‘‘I love coaching U-9,” Curran said. ‘‘You can see how much impact you have on these girls. At U-14 they’ve already got their bad habits. But it’s unreal how much we’ve influenced these girls this past spring. I’ll definitely have to find a U-9 or U-10 team to coach when I’m in Florida.

‘‘I’m going to compete this year and then I think I’m going to take the coaching route. I can always play some pick-up games, but I think I’m going to take a break from competitive soccer. I don’t want to have total knee replacements at 35. I want to be able to play soccer with my kids.”