Empathic, dependable, determined, outgoing.
Four words that senior midfielder Hannah Alfaro would describe herself as. Alfaro, the daughter of Kelly and Ramiro Alfaro, has two siblings, Logan and Reece. Alfaro hails from Placentia, California, where she attended El Dorado High School.
While at El Dorado High School, Alfaro was labeled as one of the most dynamic players on their team. Alfaro’s stellar play on the pitch led to her winning many accolades at El Dorado. Alfaro won League MVP in 2019. Alfaro was also a four-time first-team all-league and was third-team CIF Division II, one out of her four years playing at El Dorado.
While in high school, Alfaro committed to sign at the University of Texas San Antonio. However, before she could suit up for the Roadrunners, Alfaro decided she wasn’t ready for college.
“I just felt I needed a gap year, so I just declared a gap year in between high school and college,” she said.
Alfaro, with her gap year, continued to play soccer.
“I played for a WPSL team for that gap year. I went and traveled to the Dominican Republic for soccer. Then I came here the following fall,” she said.
After she returned from her gap year, Alfaro went on a visit to Idaho and loved the visit so much that she chose to play for the Vandals.
“I got in contact with Jeremy, and overall, it was the team, the culture. I came on a visit, and I just saw that there was a chemistry among the girls that I knew I could count on regardless of any external circumstances. Also soccer, they were on the rise, and I wanted to be a part of that,” Alfaro said.
Alfaro began her career in the 2020 season, where she recorded 406 minutes and had zero goals and two assists on the season. Alfaro followed up her freshman year with an impressive sophomore year. Alfaro, appeared in 18 games, 1,044 minutes and recorded two goals and one assist in her sophomore season.
Last season was a down year for Alfaro’s stats as she did not record a goal or an assist. However, she followed her worst season on paper with her best season of her career, netting four goals and dishing out two assists, including a two-goal performance in front of her family against California State North Ridge.
Alfaro was thrilled to play in front of her family and to score.
“CSUN was a cool game. Some of my family was there who had never seen me play collegiately, so aunts, uncles, they were all there. It was very exciting to be able to, not only get some goals in the back of the net, but for them to be there for the first time and it was just overall a good game,” Alfaro said.
Alfaro, throughout her Vandal career, has appeared in over 63 games, played in 3,390 minutes, netted six goals and dished out five assists. After the loss of star midfielder Savannah Foster last season, the whole midfield needed to step up, Alfaro included, and her growth from last year to this year has been huge. Alfaro attributes the growth to a mental change.
“I would say overall, for me, it was a big awareness. It was a big king of mental change. I think the skill and the talent is something I have always been able to count on, and for me, coming into this year, I knew the possibility that this could be my final season, so I didn’t want to leave anything untouched,” Alfaro said.
Alfaro has always been a dependable and hardworking midfielder for the Vandals, and they will need Alfaro as they go into the Big Sky conference. For Alfaro, she does not want Friday to be her final game of her Vandal career.
“I just look at this one at a time, and that I’m not going to let Friday be my last game,” she said.
Catch Alfaro and the Vandals at the Big Sky conference on Friday, Nov 3, at 2 p.m.
Jayden Barfuss can be reached at [email protected]