Since leaving Cumberland High School, Lindsay Cunningham has been a four-year starter at Brown University.

The Providence Journal / Kris Craig

PROVIDENCE — As a youngster, she played for the Cumberland Youth Soccer Association. As a Cumberland High School student, she was All-State and All-America in soccer, played basketball, ran track and went snowboarding.

So where is Lindsay Cunningham now? Wrapping up a fine soccer career at Brown University and preparing to dive into the treacherous waters of finance.

Cunningham is a tri-captain of this year’s Bears (4-4-3 after last night’s 3-3 tie against Bryant. ) and one of the finest players to wear a Brown jersey. She had the game-tying goal and an assist against the Bulldogs.

She is tied with Kim Lanzire ‘02 of Bristol (Mt. Hope) for 13th in career points with 43 and is 15th in career goals with 15 and 12th in career assists with 13. She was honorable mention All-Ivy in 2005 and 2006, second-team All-Ivy in 2007 and Academic All-Ivy in 2007.

She has worked at area soccer camps and taught soccer skills to individuals. Off the field she has volunteered at the Vartan Gregorian School in Fox Point since her freshman year and last year served on the Student Athlete Advisory Council.

Cunningham has done it all with confidence, competence and humility, part of the reason she and Dylan Sheehan of the men’s soccer team were among 30 college soccer players in the nation nominated last month for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award for excellence on and off the field.

“She is very unassuming. She is a quiet leader; she leads by example,” coach Phil Pincince said of his 5-foot-8 forward. “What I like about Lindsay that’s a little different is that she wasn’t burned out when we got her here. There was still a lot of upswing to her.”

Cunningham’s childhood didn’t revolve around youth soccer. Still, Pincince, also a Cumberland resident, saw something in her when she was an 8-year-old rookie.

“She was pretty dynamic out there. She could run all day. She had a passion for soccer,” he said.

Pincince took nothing for granted when he recruited Cunningham. He went on a home visit and spent three hours in her living room talking about the value of an Ivy League education. Cunningham took nothing for granted about Brown and went on an official visit like any recruit.

“When she accepted, it was a great day for Brown University,” the coach said.

Cunningham was the first player off the bench for the first half of her freshman year. When sickness sidelined a few players, she started and scored two goals. She has started ever since and described her experience as “unbelievable.” Her teammates are her best friends.

The highlight of her college career occurred last month at the UConn Classic in Storrs, Conn. Brown upset 11th-ranked Penn State, 1-0, in overtime, and played No. 1 UCLA to a scoreless tie in double overtime.

“We were the weakest opponent, and coach fired us up about that. The team rose to the challenge. We wanted to think we could beat them, and at halftime (of the Penn State game) we said, ‘Hey, we can really do this.’ UCLA generated a lot of offense, but we stayed with them. It was absolutely amazing,” she said.

Cunningham is majoring in commerce, organization and entrepreneurship. She has done summer internships at Fidelity Investments and Morgan Stanley and is considering a foray into financial services despite the current market meltdown. Until then, she has her soccer career to complete this fall and her snowboarding to resume this winter.

“Phil wasn’t too happy when he heard I was snowboarding,” she said with a laugh.

And for kids at Cumberland High who are thinking about college sports but don’t want to specialize, she offered this message: “I never had serious training or went to camps. If you work really hard and love the game, you can do anything.”

mszostak@projo.com