Anyone who has seen Eric Hanson in goal for the Badgers knows that he plays hard and is determined to leave everything on the field each and every match.
Hanson has gone from being a redshirt in 2000 to not seeing playing time in 2001 to starting all of UW’s 19 games in 2002. He had started every game this year until he was recently sidelined due to an injury. However, he hopes to be back on the field as soon as possible.
When Jeff Rohrman replaced Kalekeni Banda as head coach after the 2001 season a new coaching era began, and so started the Hanson goalkeeper era.
Hanson has enjoyed playing for Rohrman and appreciates what his coach has brought to the program.
“[The coaching change] brought a whole new intensity — a different style, different level — brought new emotion to the program,” Hanson said. “The switch … happened, and I think it will be the right move in the long term. [Coach Rohrman] brings a new atmosphere. I feel bad for [Rohrman] because we haven’t been producing, and I think he deserves more than this. Right now I think it’s a good change, but we still gotta keep going at it.”
Hanson came to UW while Banda was coaching. However, he was not always certain he would end up at UW. He looked at a number of schools, including South Carolina and Michigan, before deciding on Madison.
“I looked around at a lot of places, pretty much all over the country,” Hanson said. “But when it came down to it, I grew up here and I knew a lot of special players were here and were going to come here.”
As a Madison native and La Follette High School graduate, he enjoys playing in his hometown.
“I like [playing in my hometown]. You look up in the stands and you know a lot of people,” Hanson said. “All your friends always ask you how the games are going. It’s real exciting. Erol, ‘Slick,’ the Hohlbeins and I have it nice because we go around places and people know who we are, so it’s pretty nice.”
Teammates Erol Goknur and Nick Van Sicklen are both from Madison, and the Hohlbein brothers are from neighboring Middleton.
Hanson has given his hometown fans something to cheer about. Last season, he had 77 saves for a .733 save percentage in his first season in goal for the Badgers. He also finished third in the Big Ten in overall saves with a 4.05 saves-per-game average and posted five shutouts. Last season he also shared the Big Ten’s first Defensive Player of the Week honor (Sept. 2) with Indiana’s John Swann after earning two shutouts in his first two career games.
This season he already has three shutouts, including one against Yale on September 12.
Hanson’s most memorable UW soccer moment to date was this year’s come-from-behind win over UNLV.
“[In] our UNLV game this year, a guy got ejected in the first half, and we were down 2-1 and came back and won,” Hanson said. “Obviously I had to make a couple big saves. We only played with 10 guys, and it was like 105 degrees.”
The team is looking to do better than last year’s finish. They lost in the first round of the Big Ten championship to eventual conference champ Penn State, and they are looking to advance much further this season.
“We want to make the NCAA tournament … obviously. [We want to] finish in the top of the Big Ten,” Hanson said. “It’s going to be a lot more difficult now. Ohio State’s a good team, but that’s a team we should have beat. So we have to play hard, and I say right now. [We have to] just compete in every game.”
Hanson did not play in the 1-0 loss to Ohio State due to his injury.
Hanson’s skill extends past the side and end lines. In high school he was a member of the National Honor Society. The academic achievements did not end with high school, though, as Hanson has earned Academic Big-Ten honors the past two seasons.
In regards to whether or not Hanson will be going to law school after his undergraduate days are done, even he is not sure at this point. It basically depends on (what else) his future with soccer.
“I’d like to try and play somewhere if I can, if I get the opportunity. If not, maybe law school. But I definitely want to see if I can play somewhere.”
