For Erin Hardy, there was something about soccer cleats.
The UCLA senior defender started out as a gymnast and only succumbed to soccer at the request of her brother Jason and her father. At age 10, Hardy never intended to play soccer for more than a year. It was not until her brother had to buy new cleats, having worn out his old ones, that Hardy reconsidered the sport.
“I wasn’t in love with it my first year,” Hardy said. “I really wanted new cleats. My dad said, “˜If you continue to play, I’ll buy you new cleats.’ So I played another year ““ I just kept playing because I wanted new cleats.”
Although she traded in back handsprings for push passes when she started playing club soccer for the Southern California Blues a year later, Hardy said she brought the mental toughness she acquired on gymnastics mats to the soccer field. She is now captain of a Bruin backline that surrendered only four goals in 20 games this season.
Even though her mother Gloria attended UCLA, Hardy never wanted to play soccer in Westwood. She thought that the school was too big. After all, Hardy’s mother left UCLA after a year for a smaller Christian school.
Hardy said that she finally decided to become a Bruin because she wanted to play in a Californian school that would allow her to compete for a national championship.
“I wanted to go to a place where I’d be playing soccer and be playing 100 percent at a top school, or not play at all,” Hardy said.
In her final year donning a UCLA jersey, Hardy has come a long way since her rookie year.
“Erin is probably one of the best success stories I’ve had here in my program,” coach Jill Ellis said. “As a player, she’s just grown exponentially. She came her freshman year and was put in a situation where we threw (her) in the starting lineup. Now she’s a captain, she anchors our backline, she’s one of our best individual defenders.”
Overcoming injury
Hardy said that since her freshman year, she had improved just by gaining more experience.
“(It’s) the little things,” Hardy said. “As a freshman, I’d try to pass to someone when I just needed to kick it because there was too much pressure or something ““ then I’d get in trouble. Jill’s been trying to get me to be more vocal and just organizing and reading the game more.”
Last season, Hardy suffered a sprained knee in a match against Cal State Northridge in September, causing her to miss the next nine games. She returned to the lineup to play against Stanford on Oct. 19.
“She was an absolute warrior because she actually came back and played with an injury,” Ellis said. “We missed her. (But when she returned) she continued to play at the high level.”
Ellis said that Hardy’s performance during the game at Stanford was one of the best defensive displays Ellis has seen by an individual.
“Her leg was heavily taped; she was playing in pain because she was coming off injury,” Ellis said. “She was sticking tackles, chasing balls down. She’s just fantastic. That just attributes to her big heart ““ she plays with a big heart.”
Hardy said she sprained both her ankles and bruised her heel during the Stanford game.
“For the rest of the season, I have my whole knee taped, both my ankles taped, and I couldn’t pass the ball because it killed my knee, but I’d play anyway,” Hardy said. “But I was just a mess.”
Despite going down with an injury, Hardy said that she wasn’t devastated at the time.
“I didn’t have to get surgery, which was really nice,” Hardy said. “I love soccer, but it’s not my passion ““ it’s not my life. Like, a lot of people on my team work out twice a day ““ that’s not me. If I did that, I would hate it. It’s a part of my life, but I don’t really stress out about soccer. If we lose a game, it’s not the end of my goal, end of my world.”
A passion for spirituality
Hardy said that her biggest passion is Jesus Christ. She and several other teammates, including her roommate, Caitlyn Mac Kechnie, and defenders Lauren Barnes and Dea Cook, often conduct a Bible study while getting coffee.
“We have a lot of Christians on our team, which is awesome,” Hardy said. “We always know what’s going on in each others’ lives. We train together, read together. Obviously that makes us closer just because it’s the very thing most important to me I share with them. It doesn’t take away how much I love my other roommates, it’s just they understand me in a different light.”
Ellis said that Hardy is an exemplary person that brings her teammates together.
“She’s kind-hearted,” Ellis said. “She’s just a great, kind, generous (person) ““ she’s one of the nicest persons you’ll meet. Players are drawn to her because she’s such a genuine person.”
However, Ellis also said that Hardy needs at least three alarm clocks to ensure she’s not late.
“The thing about Erin ““ she’s a sweet kid,” Ellis said. “You kind of can’t get mad at her. If she’s ever late to training I just tell her to buy another alarm clock. She’s just been a joy for to work with.”
The captain of the defense
UCLA secured its sixth consecutive Pac-10 Championship this weekend, with Hardy captaining a Bruin defense that registered 16 shutouts and was a major key to the Bruins undefeated season.
“As a player, she’s gifted athletically; she’s very quick, she’s tenacious, she’s technical, she’s competitive,” Ellis said. “She’s been absolutely my most consistent player as far as training, bringing that intensity and passion as well.”
But Hardy credits her teammates for the team’s defensive success.
“I just think that as a team, we’re playing a lot better,” Hardy said, adding that the team would be disadvantaged if the midfielders or forwards didn’t also play defense.
“But if they do their job, it takes a load off us. In our team, everyone’s doing their job.”
Along with Hardy, Barnes and sophomore Lauren Wilmoth and redshirt senior goalkeeper Ashley Thompson make up the defensive unit for UCLA.
“They came back (a) hundred times better,” Hardy said. “It’s kind of like a separate team, the defensive line ““ we’re like our own team. We’re always there for each other. We never yell at each other; I think we mesh well with each other a lot.”
One last chance
Hardy has been to the postseason before. As one of the seven seniors on the team, Hardy played in College Cup games three years in a row, but UCLA women’s soccer has never won an NCAA championship.
“The three times going, it was an amazing experience,” Hardy said. “Everyone’s like, “˜At least you got there,’ but that doesn’t quite do it.”
In Hardy’s first trip to the College Cup in 2005, the Bruins lost to Portland, 4-0, in the finals. They lost to North Carolina, 2-0, and USC, 2-1, in 2006 and 2007 semifinals, respectively.
“As a freshman, you don’t really understand; you just get thrown in,” Hardy said. “It gets harder every time because usually we go in with a really good record, and we don’t do what we usually do. I don’t know if it’s because we got nervous or it’s the Final Four ““ it doesn’t change.”
Undefeated this season, the Bruins look to extend their winning ways in the postseason, which begins on Friday at Drake Stadium.
“I think the only thing we could do is actually execute ““ actually show up and show what we’ve done all season,” Hardy said.
To capture the national championship, the Bruins will have to rely on Hardy’s defensive prowess, which she has displayed since coming off the injury last season against Stanford. The Bruins will have to rely on the mental toughness Hardy developed on the gymnastics mat.
To capture the championship, the Bruins will have to rely on Erin Hardy’s cleats.