Lauren Hair, for as long as she can remember, has gone by Lala, a nickname given to her by her aunt when she was a young girl. Friends and family, as well as teammates, have come to know the standout forward by the name. It’s a good thing it has stuck, because with three Laurens on the Utah soccer team’s starting 11, things could get a little confusing.
The nickname isn’t the only similarity between Lauren’s younger years growing up in Alpine, Utah and the time she is spending here at the U. The sophomore in human development and family studies also has a familiar face around as well8212;her older sister Addie.
The Hair sisters are the first sibling duo to ever play soccer together at the U, something that is very important to each of them.
“We always really push each other,” Lauren said. “We’re always there for each other but we make each other better too.”
This is nothing new to the Hair sisters, who started playing together at a young age.
“Addie started playing rec ball when I was seven or eight, so I wanted to play,” Lauren said. “After a couple of years of rec, I started to play competition up with her age group.”
Lauren played alongside her older sister in an age group that was predominantly two years older than she. But shortly thereafter, the two sisters were split up when Lauren began competing with her own age group because of her size.
Lauren, who played club ball at Sparta Premier, flourished as a goal scorer, leading Sparta in scoring from 2001 to 2007 as well as tallying 44 career goals at Lone Peak High School.
As Lauren continued to progress through the club and high school ranks, she knew early on where she wanted to play collegiate soccer. She also knew she didn’t want to travel very far to get there. A short drive north up Interstate-15 brought Lauren to Salt Lake City.
“I’m definitely a family girl,” Lauren said. “I wanted to stay close to home and I really liked Rich (Manning).”
Head coach Rich Manning and Lauren had worked together in the Olympic Developmental Program in 2007 when Lauren and company placed No. 2 in nationals.
“Lauren’s work ethic and intensity on the field have been a great catalyst for our team,” Manning said.
So it was no surprise to Manning that Lauren wasted no time impacting the team as a freshman, ringing up four goals and seven assists in her first year at the U. She finished the year with 15 points, making her No. 3 on the team.
But the beginning of the 2008 season didn’t go exactly how Lauren envisioned the beginning of her sophomore campaign. She was held without a goal until the Utes got into Mountain West Conference play. Lauren finally found the back of the net in a 3-1 win against last year’s conference champs, UNLV, and it couldn’t have come soon enough for her or the Utes.
Lauren’s goals rejuvenated both her season and her team’s season. After a rough start of 1-5, the Utes kicked it into high gear in conference play, where Lauren has led Utah to No. 2 in the MWC with a chance to clinch No. 1 this Friday.
“In the beginning of the year, I was just hitting the post a lot,” Lauren said. “I was getting a lot of chances, but now they’re just starting to go in for me.”
To say goals are “going in” for Lauren would be an understatement. She has been on a tear as of late, netting three goals in her past two games, two of which were game-winners. Her performance last weekend earned her recognition from the conference offices this past Monday when she was named MWC Offensive Player of the Week.
“I’m just excited,” Lauren said. “I’m glad I can be helping out my team. In the beginning of the season it was kinda hard because I wasn’t scoring or assisting as much as I wanted to, but coach (Manning) and my teammates were so supportive. Hard work really does pay off and I’m just glad to help my team any way I can.”
Both Lauren’s teammates and coaches would say although the goals weren’t there in the beginning of the year for Lauren, she was still doing more for the team than any stat sheet could prove.
“Throughout the season, she has been able to track down long balls, create offense through good defense (and) make good runs,” Manning said. “She has gotten in the box and drawn penalty kicks. She has done a lot to help our team, but until last weekend, she hadn’t finished. That was the one piece of the puzzle missing and it is a really positive sign for Lauren and the team that she was able to break through this weekend.”
It seems Lauren and the Utes are peaking at just the right time. With the conference tournament right around the corner, Lauren and her teammates are as committed as ever and they’re having fun along the way.
“We are confident,” Lauren said. “We always have in the back of our minds the BYU game, it definitely pushes us because it’s always there. We’re definitely ready. We’re excited and we’re going to give it our best shot. It’s just such a fun atmosphere. The team is really close this year..”
Tyler CobbLauren Hair, one of Utah?s forwards, has gone by the nickname of ?La-La? since she was a young girl. La-La?s coaches and teammates will all agree that although she wasn?t scoring a lot at the first of the season her hard work and presence on the field counted for just as much as goals.