Nicholls’ Australian head coach Kristy Helmers has secured the first signature of a fellow countrywoman, as former junior college star Montana-Rose Currey transfers from High Point. Currey joins a long list of Australians to feature for the Colonels, including NSA Sofia captain and UEFA Women’s Champions League player Jess Coates, Shauni Reid, Tenille Harberger, Tessa Calabria, and Helmers herself.
A two-time national runner-up at NJCAA level with Johnson County Community College in Kansas, Currey dominated at JUCO level. The defender was named NJCAA All-American Second Team in each of her two years, and also picked up KJCCC Defensive Player of the Year in 2023 whilst featuring in all 47 of the Cavaliers’ contests over the two campaigns and picking up numerous other conference and regional awards.
Currey started on five occasions in her lone season at High Point, playing 90 minutes in three of those appearances. However, the Northern Tigers product featured in only nine games, and only once after September 24 as High Point made a miraculous run to the Big South conference tournament championship and an NCAA Tournament berth. In the time between junior college graduation and her NCAA Division I debut, Currey spent the 2025 offseason playing Football NSW League One Women for one of her previous clubs, Central Coast Mariners, making eight starts in as many games and helping the A-League club’s academy side to a third-place finish.
Currey now joins a Nicholls side that is trending upwards under third-year head coach Helmers. The Colonels finished 4-9-5 in 2025, the first time they have posted more than three wins in a campaign since 2017, and their first season with fewer than ten defeats since 2016. However, like most teams, they will have to replace a number of seniors and graduate students from their 2025 team. How they reload in 2026 will be key to their future successes, but signing Currey as a transfer to shore up the defence shapes as a solid start to proceedings. Although the Colonels improved from a 0-10-0 record in conference play in 2024 to 1-5-4 in 2025, they still conceded 1.9 goals per game in league play. However, six of their ten league games finished as draws or one-goal defeats, so even saving the odd goal here or there could make a significant difference to Nicholls’ fortunes going forward.
With Australian head coach Helmers now entering her third season and picking up her first commitment from an Australian, all eyes will be on Thibodaux as it remains to be seen if that pipeline that delivered the Colonels a handful of Aussies in the past can be re-established.
Leave a Reply