Dolcie Hanlon helped turn around the UNK soccer program – and she’s not done yet
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KEARNEY – It’s already been a historic season for the University of Nebraska at Kearney women’s soccer team.
The Lopers (7-5-5) are guaranteed a winning record for just the second time since the program started in 2009. With a victory in Wednesday night’s regular-season finale against rival Fort Hays State, they’d earn a spot in the MIAA Tournament for the first time since 2015 and third time overall.
Senior defender Dolcie Hanlon knows it will be an emotional match, and she doesn’t plan to walk off Foster Field with any regrets.
“This season has really been everything I could have imagined it to be,” she said. “No matter how far we go, I’ll be leaving this sport thankful, knowing that I left it all out there on the field. This truly isn’t an opportunity that everybody gets, and I’m very fortunate to have had such a great four years here.”
A native of Grand Junction, Colorado, where she was an all-conference athlete in three sports, Hanlon came to UNK with one goal in mind. She wanted to make an impact.
Although the Lopers hadn’t experienced much success, she saw an opportunity to turn that around and be part of something bigger than herself.
“I was really excited about that,” said Hanlon, who started all 18 games as a freshman and earned honorable mention recognition in the MIAA.
UNK went 2-16 that season, and head coach Chloe Roberts was let go a couple weeks after the team’s final match. When Roberts’ replacement left the position without coaching a single match, Hanlon started questioning her decision to attend UNK.
“Is this the right place for me?” she thought.
“There was a lot of uncertainty,” Hanlon explained. “Freshman year is already a difficult time, and the coaching change just added to that.”
Ultimately, she decided to stick with her commitment and “see it all the way through.”
SETTING THE STANDARD
When Rob Breton was hired by UNK in April 2022, he knew he’d need buy-in from the returning players to succeed. He saw “tons of potential for growth in the program,” but they had to trust someone who’d never been a head coach at the collegiate level before and help build that positive culture and winning mentality.
“I believe this program is in a conference that will allow us to compete against some top-quality talent and get to challenge ourselves every game,” Breton said when he was hired. “I look forward to helping push this program to new heights and competing for the conference tournament immediately.”
Of course, immediate success is often hard for first-year coaches to find.
The Lopers were 0-15-3 in 2022, when Hanlon received all-conference honorable mention recognition for a second time, and they finished the 2023 season with a 3-13-2 record.
It took some time for Hanlon and her teammates to remember how to win.
“When we went down a goal, we didn’t have the grit in us to get back up, because I think we would always just drop our heads,” Hanlon said. “But now, we know we can compete with all these teams in the conference and we’re able to put another ball in the back of the net.”
“I think the mentality is shifting and there’s a lot more respect for the program,” she added. “It’s not looked at as a losing program. It’s looked at as a program that can make the national tournament in the future.”
The head captain this season, Hanlon had a big part in creating that positive momentum.
She’s played in all 71 matches since joining UNK and started all but one of them. Molly Willis (2016-19) and Sarah Talcott (2010-13) are the only Lopers with more career starts, and Hanlon would at least tie their mark if UNK reaches the conference tourney.
Last month, Hanlon became just the fifth player in program history to reach 6,000 career minutes played.
Breton called her a hardworking, genuine, caring person who leads by example and elevates everyone around her.
“One thing that we’re still growing into as a program is how to have a winning mindset all the time and being able to find the joy in even the toughest of days,” he said. “Even on the hardest practice days or the days when you can tell it’s going to be difficult, she always brings that uplifting energy to everyone and sets the standard for our team.
“Having her as a leader really sets the bar going forward of what we expect our captains to be able to do.”
Along with Emily Flowers and Angelina Iocca, Hanlon is one of three players who have been on the UNK roster since 2021. Breton gives the entire group credit for their commitment to the program and contributions both on and off the field.
“I just want to say thank you, over and over and over again,” he said. “Thank you for trusting me. Thank you for believing. Thank you for the work ethic. Thank you for bringing me into your family and making this place special for me.”
“This entire class, it’s going to be hard not to see them on that first day of training in the spring. It’s going to be kind of surreal. It’s going to be kind of sad,” he added. “But the future is very, very bright, not just for them but anybody who’s involved with them. I’m honored, to say the least, to have been part of their lives.”
LIFE AFTER SOCCER
Through all the ups and downs, Hanlon looks back at her time at UNK with the same sense of gratitude.
“It’s impacted me so much,” she said. “Coming in, I wouldn’t have described myself as a leader, but I’m definitely leaving UNK as a leader. I’ve grown so much as a person in the past four years and that’s a big thanks to UNK soccer. This campus and this community definitely hold a special place in my heart.”
A two-time MIAA Scholar Athlete and Academic All-District honoree and three-time MIAA Academic Honor Roll recipient, Hanlon is double majoring in sports management and business administration with an emphasis in supply chain management. She’s involved in Fellowship of Christian Athletes and currently serves as president of the UNK Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
Hanlon also participated in a study abroad trip to the Czech Republic, where students gained hands-on experience in international business and marketing, and she completed an internship with Kearney Park and Recreation last summer.
After graduating in May, she plans to pursue a master’s degree in sports management while working as a graduate assistant. Ultimately, she wants to serve student-athletes as an administrator in a college or university athletic department.
“That really is the dream job, just because I want to stay around athletics,” Hanlon said. “I have a passion for sports and I love the mentality that athletes have. I love that environment, so that’s something I will really miss when I’m done with soccer.”
Based on what he’s seen over the past three years, Breton has no doubt that she’ll excel in this role.
“Whatever she wants to do and wherever she wants to go, she’s going to be a very, very successful individual,” he said, “and I’m very excited to watch who she becomes and what she does for others."