Freshman midfielder, Hannah Friedrich, has accrued nine goals and seven assists this season to lead the SLU Women’s Soccer Team with a combined 25 points.

Two huge events happened in Friedrich’s life at just the age of six. Her family almost forgot her at home when going on a family vacation and she started playing soccer.  

It was her mom who almost left her at home, but someone who would never forget Friedrich are her grandparents, Sharon and John Gross. Throughout her playing career she’s always been supported by them.

Friedrich is from Hazelwood, Mo. and attended Hazelwood West High School, just 30 minutes from SLU. This close proximity allows for her family and, most importantly, her grandparents to be able to see all of Friedrich’s home games.

This season the Billikens are 8-0-1 at home at Hermann Stadium, a storied venue that anyone would be lucky to compete at.

“Oh it’s amazing, the atmosphere it brings is awesome,” Friedrich said. “It gets you so pumped to play in front of your friends and family under the lights.”

Friedrich is just a freshman, but knows she made the right decision in choosing SLU.

“I loved the coaches and the team and it felt like this is where I belong,” Friedrich said.

Junior Alli Klug is her favorite teammate and Katie Shields is her favorite coach. Friedrich said she has a blast traveling with the team. All of the time spent in the airport makes their bond that much stronger.

The biggest aspect of the D1 life that Friedrich said she’s had to get used to is the intensity of all of it put together.

“Compared to select it’s way more intense and it’s a lot, but it’s so worth it because you get to play with your best friends who are just so willing to work hard no matter what,” Friedrich said.  

Friedrich has been making the most of her student athlete experience, excelling on the field and in the classroom. She is majoring in speech pathology and hopes to work with younger children who have speech impediments after graduation in 2022.

The women’s soccer team is currently 8-0 in the A-10. They have only two regular season games left before the A-10 tournament held at Dayton. The main thing on Friedrich’s mind right now is winning the tournament and going far in the NCAA tournament.

Friedrich attributes the teams success to their work ethic.

This success is in part due to the many resources that help student athletes. Friedrich explained that in high school she didn’t have all of the help that SLU offers her, “and all the staff just cares so much.”

Women’s soccer plays against UMass on Thursday, Oct. 19. The match can be streamed on ESPN+.