Laura Pimienta's Hard Work Pays Off
By Sean Collins
As Wildcats, the student-athletes are reminded to work hard every single time they enter the weight room in McKale Center. On one of the walls in bold, red lettering, it reads, “hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” Sophomore Laura Pimienta of the women’s soccer team certainly knows about work ethic.
Laura arrived at Arizona along with her twin sister Priscilla Pimienta. The duo graduated from Mountain View High School right here in Tucson.
“My parents always told me and my sister that we were going to Arizona,” Pimienta said. “But me and my sister were wondering what else was out there. So we looked at two schools in California and then some in Las Vegas, but ultimately, my parents said that we were going to Arizona and that was it.”
Head coach Tony Amato’s predecessor recruited the pair of sisters, but the new coaching staff of Amato and assistant coaches Paul Nagy and Kylie Louw, made a great first impression on Pimienta.
“Tony and Paul called us and we were in Mexico at the time,” Pimienta said. “So when we got back, we met with them and they seemed like really good coaches. Then I read about them and I just got super excited.”
Pimienta played as a midfielder all throughout life before arriving at Arizona. But the coaching staff had different plans. She made the transition to a defender, the left back position, something she had never done before. Pimienta made eight appearances for the Wildcats in 2013 as a freshman. This year, however, she has played in all 13 matches for the Wildcats and logs heavy minutes in the back four. Pimienta has played all 90 minutes on six different occasions in 2014.
“I never expected this,” Pimienta said. “I came in and it was new everything, new coaches, new position, new everything. They didn’t know me; they had never watched me play. I told myself, ‘I have to show them what I have.’”
Pimienta’s hard work and talent has not gone unnoticed amongst the coaching staff. Pimienta also gets to show her friends and family what she has. The local product has multiple friends and family members at every match.
“It’s great,” Pimienta said. “You always know there is somebody in the stands cheering for you. It’s somebody that has seen you grow up from when you were little or friends and family, it’s great to see them after the game.”
One family member that never misses a match is her sister. Simply talking about Priscilla brings a smile to Laura’s face.
“I love having her on the team, she knows what I go through with everything,” Pimienta said. “If I’m down, she’s always there and she’s my best friend. We never fight; she’s just my best friend. She’s been recovering from a torn ACL and she’s just now getting back to playing. So that makes me happy, I love playing with her.”
Laura, Priscilla and the rest of the Wildcats will play at No. 1 UCLA on Friday at 7 p.m. MST in Los Angeles, Calif.