Hogan is laser-focused right now.
On lacrosse, on fitness … and on Hallmark Channel Christmas movies.
“She’s on a tear right now with Hallmark movies,” Al Hogan said. “A little too much, if you ask me. She’s got the Christmas lights outside in October.”
Koch, who will be the officiant of Hogan and Shaeffer’s wedding, recalled the early days knowing her. A college-aged Hogan was equal parts snark and sass. “We would call her the Little Lax Diva,” Koch said.
“One time, in my opinion, she was not giving her full effort in sprints,” Koch said. “I asked her why she wasn’t trying as hard as she could, to which she said she was. So, I kicked her out of practice.”
Unfortunately, given a dearth of healthy goalie options at the time, Koch then had to jump in goal for the rest of practice. She laughs about it now.
Hogan has since overcome the “Little Lax Diva” moniker. Koch has no reason to ever call her that now. She has matured and found such happiness in life that she has little reason to be sassy — outside of being her normal comedic self, of course.
“She’s so unapologetically herself,” Quillinan Griggs said. “It’s incredible. We’re a year apart, and she is at the peak of her game. I don’t know if I could play a full game right now.”
Altig has experienced the U.S. program as Hogan’s teammate and now as her coach. She fondly remembers being in the trenches with Hogan as a fellow goalkeeper and consoling each other after getting cut. Even after hearing about her own tryout fate, Hogan would reach out to Altig to make sure she was OK.
“She is the most humble, selfless … I’m trying to find all the greatest adjectives possible and put them in one sentence,” Altig said. “There aren’t enough words to describe how remarkable of a person she is.”
When Altig’s daughter was born, Hogan sent a gift to the house. It was an STX mini goalie stick with an attached note reading, “I look forward to seeing you in the Olympics one day.”
“She’s so happy in her life outside of lacrosse, and it has carried over and brought her that consistency. She’s playing really carefree, which helps her make saves,” Altig said. “At the goalkeeper position, your brain is your worst enemy.”
At age 31, Hogan is at her lacrosse peak. The physical education teacher at Sacred Heart Schools in Atherton, Calif., might have shifted her priorities in life, but that doesn’t mean making the U.S. team has taken a backseat.
“She’s never been better,” Altig said. “She makes saves where people are like, ‘She shouldn’t have made that.’ But Liz Hogan makes that.”
The evolution of Liz Hogan has been a steady progression through life, not unlike many others who have experienced disappointment before picking themselves up off the floor. But while some just go on living, Hogan makes a conscious effort to live life to its fullest and embrace everything that makes her unique.
In a 2018 column published by Inside Lacrosse, Hogan wrote the words that she now essentially lives by: “Just be you, everyone else is already taken.” The column was about being openly gay in sports, but her words transcend the boundaries of a lacrosse field.
“Since Liz was in college, her overall happiness and joy for life and her confidence and self-assurance have gone up so much,” Koch said. “Just to see her evolve and to see this fully confident person in who she is has been wonderful to watch.”
With Wills’ retirement, Gussie Johns is the lone returner at the goalie position. Hogan is in the mix with Sam Giacolone, Caylee Waters, Molly Dougherty and Angie Benson. Although she has her sights set on representing the U.S. at the 2021 World Lacrosse Women’s World Championship in Towson, Md., Hogan talks like someone who will be at peace with whatever happens.
She’s confident and comfortable. She won’t be tense at the tryout. She’ll still crack possibly terrible jokes and look to mentor the next generation of U.S. stars, all while doing everything she can to make the team.
That’s just who she is.
“Once you put that helmet on,” Hogan said, “you can be whoever you want to be.”