Tenacity and hard work pay off for this senior

Playing soccer since she was old enough to run with coordination, senior midfielder Abby Hunt is living a dream.

Hunt, a native of Salt Lake City, said she has always had a love of soccer and wanted to compete at the college level.

“I’ve always liked soccer the most,” Hunt said. “I always thought it would be cool to play in college, and it was even sweeter when I got to play in a D-I school. I’ve always wanted to play soccer.”

Soccer is almost second nature to this senior, who got her start in soccer when she was 4 or 5. Excelling in recreational soccer leagues, Hunt moved up to the competition soccer at age nine, where she competed into high school.

Hunt played center midfielder for Cottonwood High School all four years, but it wasn’t an easy journey, she said. She said competing at a higher level was challenging as she competed at a higher skill level and had to be more physical, a trait that would benefit her when she arrived at USU.

“We started out really slow,” Hunt said. “We didn’t even win a game my freshman year, and then near the end in my senior year, we made it to the semifinals in the state tournament. Lost, but going from not winning any games to going that far was pretty cool.”

Not only did her team finish third in the state tournament, but Hunt was honored with all-region honors her sophomore and senior years. With early success, Hunt was a highly recruited player, but not by schools she imagined.

Hunt said she received considerable attention from schools Back East and from smaller schools in Utah and across the West. Among all these schools was a coachless Utah State program in the process of recruiting current winningest coach Heather Cairns.

“While being recruited, everyone was like, ‘You can’t be recruited by Utah State because they don’t even have a coach,'” Hunt said. “I didn’t really know what I was getting into as far as that, but I always wanted to come up here. I really like Logan and the atmosphere of Logan. When I was being recruited and it worked out, it was awesome.”

A position on the USU soccer squad wasn’t the only thing that brought Hunt to USU. Her brains also earned her a Dean’s and Schwann’s scholarship, as she boasted a 3.74 GPA.

Now in her senior year, competing in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament, Hunt has experienced the aches and pains of adjusting to a tough conference and the success that has come to the program. Her contribution? Hard work.

“She’s effective and she works her tail off,” Cairns said in praise of Hunt. “She’s not just talented. She backs it up with hard work, and that lets players who have talent know that it’s not enough, they have to back it up with hard work. And it lets players who might not be as talented know that they can get there with hard work. She really embodies the two of those.”

That hard work has paid off over her four-year career, but never so much as in this season. Currently, Hunt is tied for third with fellow senior Dana Peart for goals scored at five. She has also pitched in two assists for a total of 12 points.

At a compact 5-foot-2, Hunt has made her presence felt, winning balls in the air and controlling the tempo of the game. Shorter than midfielders on most other teams, Hunt said she isn’t sure why she wins more balls in the air other than good timing on her part.

“It doesn’t really add up when you think I’m six inches shorter than most of the players,” she said. “I guess it would have to be my timing and knowing that I want to win that ball and do anything I can to get to it.”

That work ethic is what has made Hunt a leader, Cairns said.

“Abby is more of a leader in that she is the engine of our team,” Cairns said. “She really kind of controls the pace of the game and sets the tone of the game by her play.”

Her tenacity and dedication have earned her all-conference honors as she was recently named to the first-team all-WAC, her first time being named to a conference team.

These honors are well-deserved, as Cairns said Hunt is a player who has shown improvement in her knowledge of the game and her ability to influence her teammates in a positive way.

“Abby has just become more tactical,” Cairns said. “She’s just become more confident. Tactic-wise, she has always been good in the air, she’s always been able to finish crosses, but she’s taken it to the next level. She is a deadly weapon when it comes to those two things, but also her tactics in terms of how she plays with her teammates, in terms of how she affects our team. I think she’s just come a long way in terms of her tactical knowledge.”

Traveling the road to this point wasn’t easy though, Hunt said. Leaving high school as a top player and entering college play where she was one of many talented players was mentally challenging, Hunt said. But challenges are opportunities, she said.

“Yeah, it was kind of hard to go from being the starter, playing the whole game, one of the key players, to going to everyone is as good as you, if not better,” Hunt said. “(It was) mentally challenging, but as long as you keep working hard, prove why you should be playing over other people, yeah.”

And proven herself she has. Hunt has started every game this season as well as last season and will round out her career at USU with nine goals and three assists. But points don’t mean much to Hunt. She said her reward lies with the experience.

“Getting to know these girls, they’re awesome,” Hunt said of the rewards of her four-year career. “It’s like our family up here. You get to play the sport you love with girls you love. Just both of them combined has been awesome.”

-seth.h@aggiemail.usu.edu