Soccer, Basketball, Lacrosse
Favorite athlete: Erling Haaland
Favorite team: Eagles
Favorite memories competing in sports: Winning the state championship in basketball my senior year and beating Penncrest in playoffs for lacrosse in my junior year.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: When my teammate ran out of bounds during a basketball game and slammed into the water cart and spilled it all.
Music on my phone: Olivia Dean and Noah Kahan
Future plans: Attend Marquette University studying communications and playing lacrosse
Words to live by: “Be Brave”
One goal before turning 30: Travel abroad
One thing people don’t know about me: My hidden talent is knowing the lyrics to so many random songs.
By Mary Jane Souder
Maeve Hogan never has a bad day.
That’s a bold statement to make about anyone, but according to Upper Dublin lacrosse coach Dee Cross, it’s a fact. If Hogan has had a bad day, the veteran coach has never seen it, and she has seen a whole lot of the recent UD graduate, who was a four-year starter on the varsity lacrosse squad.
“I had heard about Maeve from her club coach and in middle school,” Cross said. “I knew she had a lot of energy, and what I knew about Maeve - her personality and her smile are infectious. Maeve never has a bad
day, and that was really something that caught my attention.
“She would ask a question, we’d give her an answer, she’d smile, and she’d go do it. She was that person that was coachable. She is a true midfielder, but when she came in as a freshman, we needed her to play straight up defense, and she never questioned it. She did it for two years because that’s the position we needed her. I knew she was a good defender because she played basketball, and she did it without a word.”
Hogan has turned her talents on the lacrosse field into an opportunity to play Division 1 lacrosse, signing a letter of intent to play for Marquette University in the BIG EAST.
“Maeve’s junior year when we moved her to midfield, it was like someone had released her, and she really showed what she could do,” Cross said. “But we as a coaching staff were always appreciative that she did what the team needed and made us better because of that.
“That’s a testament to how Maeve is always a team player. Not to sound corny or anything, but she really did what was best for the team.”
For Hogan – a rare three-sport student-athlete, doing what’s best for the team didn’t always mean excelling on the field or on the court. As a matter of fact, Hogan’s legacy in basketball is for her contributions when she wasn’t playing during a season that included a magical run to both a District 1 6A title and the PIAA 6A state crown.
With the basketball team’s season extended into late March, Hogan missed the first three weeks of her final high school lacrosse season.
“Maeve was a bigger part of our state title run than she realizes,” said UD girls’ basketball coach Morgan Funsten. “I know it was difficult for Maeve to put a hold on
lacrosse season with the long postseason run that we went on, but you could never tell by her attitude and work ethic in practice.
“Marquette is getting an awesome athlete and person. She meant so much to our team and program for the past four years, and we are going to miss her so much next year.”
In soccer, Hogan – a three-year varsity player - started several games last fall but was typically the first player off the bench. There is no mistaking her value.
“I’ve had the privilege of coaching Maeve for the past two years, and it has truly been an amazing experience,” the UD soccer coach Darius Gbunblee said. “She is not only an outstanding athlete but an incredible person as well.
“She was one of our leaders and always cheered and supported the other girls. One thing that stands out most about her is her ability to be a great teammate and an even better friend to everyone around her.”
That positive persona
Ask Hogan about her positive personality (invariably mentioned when her name comes up), and she responds with a laugh.
“I’ve always just been happy,” she said matter-of-factly. “People say that I am positive and that’s the biggest thing.
“I feel like I’ve just always been that way. It’s not something I learned as I got older. I’ve always been happy and positive, and I just want to have fun and hang out with my friends and play sports and just have a good time. Sports are hard, but it makes it so much easier when you’re having fun, and I feel like at Upper Dublin, we were always having fun.”
And has Hogan really never had a bad day?
“I’m sure I’ve had bad days, but my parents really instilled in me at a young age that it’s a privilege to play and be healthy and live where we do and have this experience,” she said. “I’ve been surrounded by really great people for the last four years, and that makes it so easy to be happy every day and have a good day every day.”
Back to the beginning
Hogan comes from a sports family with two younger brothers – John, a rising sophomore, and Kevin, who is going into eighth grade. In addition to the three sports Hogan played in high school, she also tried her hand at softball and swimming as well.
Soccer was her number one sport as a youngster.
“I loved soccer,” she said. “I wanted to be on the U.S. Women’s National team, but as I got older, I was like – ‘Oh, I am not the best at soccer,’ but it was definitely my favorite when I was little.”
Hogan has been playing lacrosse since she was in third grade, and in middle school, it surpassed soccer as her favorite.
“I was playing club lacrosse, and my coach started talking to us about what it would look like to play in college,” she said. “It sounded great – I would love to do hat, and so I became really serious about lacrosse, playing club in the summer and going to camps and tournaments and trying to get recruited.”
Most recently, Hogan played club lacrosse with Reign, and it was on the club circuit that Marquette entered the picture.
“I was looking at a lot of schools – I didn’t really have a specific school I wanted to go to,” she said. “I reached out to a lot of schools, but I never emailed Marquette. They weren’t really as much on my radar.
“Then, on Sept. 1, my junior year hit, and coaches started to be able to reach out to me. I got an email from Marquette, inviting me to go out to their camp and see their campus. They said they were interested.”
Midway through September, Hogan and her father visited the Marquette campus and met the coaches.
“I really loved it,” the UD senior said. “It’s a good conference (BIG EAST), it’s a high-level lacrosse, and I decided that’s what I wanted to do.”
Hogan committed to Marquette shortly after her visit.
“I was looking at a couple other schools, but it really stuck out to me the culture and just the conference - being able to play in the Big East just seems really cool,” she said. “It came down to being a pretty easy decision.”
Passion for lacrosse
Thanks to the basketball team’s dream season, Hogan– along with teammates Bridget DiMartile and Shannon Connaughton – missed UD’s first three games.
“The leadership wasn’t there, the skill wasn’t there that made us what we were this year,” Cross said of those early weeks. “Maeve didn’t play a whole lot (for the basketball team), but her enthusiasm - she brought that to the team. She was a senior and knew she had to be a leader.
“She would have loved to have been on the lacrosse field, but she had to finish this out and what a way to finish out her career. She knew she had to buy all into that basketball team, and even though she wasn’t a leader on the court, she was a leader on the sideline and kept them all focused, and I think that absolutely helped them.”
Hogan appreciated her high school coach’s understanding.
“I’m sure a lot of coaches would not have been thrilled (about missing the first three weeks of the season), but Coach Cross was nothing but supportive
with us staying with basketball,” the senior captain said.
A first team All-SOL Liberty Division selection in lacrosse, Hogan was a key contributor to a UD squad that advanced to the state tournament.
“She just always wanted to get better and always wanted to work harder,” Cross said. “She loved being part of a team.
“She’s a great midfielder. She’s got speed, she has field awareness, and she ended up her career with 125 goals, and that was only in two seasons of playing midfield because she was a defender.”
With 69 goals as a senior, Hogan was just two goals behind University of Michigan commit Bridget DiMartile, who had 71.
“Maeve’s skill level going to goal and knowing when to take the shot just really showed this year,” Cross said. “Her aggressiveness on offense – she knew when we needed a goal, and she knew what she had to do, and I think that’s what made her a leader this year.
“Marquette recruited her as a midfielder, and I think she’s just going to keep getting better and better.”
Hogan did not take for granted a coach who is in the hall of fame as both a coach and player.
“It was awesome to have Coach Cross – she’s so experienced, she cares to much about all the girls, and she’s just so knowledgeable with lacrosse,” Hogan said. “It was really fun to play for her for four years.”
A sport for all seasons
It would have been understandable if Hogan – with her sights set on playing lacrosse at the Division 1 level – had opted to walk away from basketball or soccer. Or even both.
Hogan has a ready explanation for sticking with all three.
“I love being busy – I always have to be doing something,” she said. “Freshman year, I knew I wanted to play soccer and lacrosse obviously, and I played basketball my whole life.
“I’d heard really good things about Coach Fusnten, so I was like, ‘I’m going to play soccer, and I might as well try basketball and see how it goes.’ I loved basketball. Funsten runs such a good program, and it was so much fun. I made a lot of friends on the team. I was busy, but I am really happy I decided to do it that way.”
Being part of a state championship squad in basketball is an experience she will never forget.
“It was the most fun season,” she said. “Just being on such a high-level team with so many high-level players was really cool.
“Obviously, I didn’t get a ton of playing time, but the girls on the team – we were all so close, and we would contribute a lot at practice, getting the starters ready for games, and me and my friends would always cheer on the bench.
“Even though I wasn’t on the court scoring points, it always felt like everyone involved was contributing to our success on the team. Everyone from the starters to bench players were so into the games, and we were all so committed, and I think that really contributed to our success.”
Acknowledging that three-sport athletes are rare in an era when many choose to specialize, Funsten was especially appreciative of Hogan’s contributions.
“She is very athletic on the basketball court and specialized on the defensive end for us,” the UD coach said. “She has great anticipation and is as good as any player I’ve coached at jumping passing lanes to get steals.
“She also has a contagious personality and can always put a smile on her teammates’ faces while also being a strong leader. She comes from a great family and has a solid support system.”
Hogan’s value to her soccer team on and off the pitch was also significant.
“No matter how challenging I tried to make practice, Maeve always found a way to keep things fun and bring positive energy to the team,” Gbunblee said. “She made a lasting impact on this group, both on and off the field.”
Looking ahead
Hogan also excelled in the classroom, taking mainly honors and AP classes, and she was involved in UD’s student government association for three years. She was named to the PASLA (Pennsylvania Area Schoolgirls Lacrosse Association) All-Academic team.
At Marquette, Hogan will major in communications.
“I might do something like public relations,” she said. “I’m also taking an education class, so we’ll see. I don’t really have anything set yet,”
Hogan leaves UD with no regrets.
“All three sports are very different,” she said. “It was the best thing about high school being on those teams. All the people I played sports with over my last four years – those are some of my best friends, and I am so happy I decided to do it that way. It was the best four years.”
