As a longtime forward for La Salle’s varsity girls soccer team and the Portland United Soccer Club (PCU), senior Lilly Erving will be continuing her 12-year soccer career in the Division I program at the University of West Florida (UWF), where she will be majoring in business management.

“I was like, ‘Wow, this can’t be happening,’” Erving said after receiving the offer. “It really just made me realize that I’m going to be living in Florida, playing soccer — continuing to get better and go to a different part of my life, especially with the sport I’ve always played.”

With this, Erving joins the ranks of seniors highlighted in The Falconer’s Next Level Seniors series, which features student athletes at La Salle who have committed to playing their sport at the collegiate level.

Over the years, Erving has balanced her rigorous soccer schedules with multiple other sports.

Before seriously committing to soccer, Erving participated in gymnastics, eventually quitting when she was 12 years old. She also played basketball in middle school and is currently a member of the La Salle girls golf team, where she has participated for the last two years. 

She enjoys golf because it is a more relaxed game than soccer, she said. 

“I think it’s helpful, having that as an extra sport so my whole life isn’t just soccer, soccer, soccer,” Erving said. 

Her dad, coach Steve Erving, coaches the girls golf team, which adds another connection to the sport.

Though Erving has played for PCU since 2018, her club soccer journey began much earlier.

She started with Milwaukie Soccer Club in second grade before switching to Thelo United FC (now known as North Clackamas Alliance), and finally settling at PCU.

She stayed with PCU because she had the same coach for eight years and she grew up playing with many of the girls. “They’re like my sisters, and we’re just so tight,” she said.

She describes club and school soccer as being different in structure and traveling because club soccer is “equal playing time, and we always travel,” she said.

Her favorite place she’s traveled for club was Orlando, Florida, where her team stayed in a house together and even went to Universal Studios.

As both a club and school soccer player, the rigor never ends, she said, as balancing school and club soccer requires year-round training and conditioning.

“It’s a lot of work to stay fit and stay up to date,” she said. “I’ve had to do a lot of trainings, and I’ve also sacrificed my body. I’ve gotten injured a lot.”

Injuries, including concussions and ankle problems, challenged her throughout high school. She currently has recurring groin and leg muscle issues that have been difficult to overcome.

“It’s hard to take care of them sometimes, but that’s kind of a setback,” she said. “You can just step wrong and then, ‘oh no, you hurt your groin, you’re out for like, a few weeks.”

After struggling with understanding her place on the team early in high school, Erving eventually developed into a team captain and college recruit.

Freshman year, she expected to play on varsity, start, and get good playing time. While she did during the regular season, during playoffs, she ended up playing less than she hoped, which took a toll on her mental health.

Sophomore year, she proved her skill as an attacker, and she continued to work hard, Erving said. 

During her junior year, Erving was unsure about whether or not she wanted to pursue a collegiate sport, but “then I kind of realized that I did want to play in college, and I didn’t want to just stop playing soccer,” she said, which prompted her to start reaching out to coaches in the summer.

This year, the La Salle girls soccer program welcomed a new head coach, coach Michael Chrisman, who had a great impact on Erving.

“He was just really good for me,” she said. “I think he saw the best in me and he helped me thrive and go forward in my soccer journey.”

She also attributed her changed mindset to the previous varsity girls soccer coach, coach Andy Fraiser.

“Having Andy as a coach changed my perspective on soccer,” she said. “I think he helped me a lot [to] get over my sadness or he made me really confident.”

By her senior year, Erving had risen to the leadership position of team captain. 

As a captain, she learned that “just being able to give positive feedback, and also being a friend off the field to your team, is very helpful,” she said.

Her favorite memory from her senior season was going on a beach retreat with her soccer team, specifically saying that agate hunting by the shore was the most memorable activity from the trip. 

One difficulty she combated during the school year was gaining recruiters’ attention, saying that every day she or her dad would email certain coaches.

She had struggled with getting recognized through emails because of the sheer volume that coaches get, she said. 

At ID camps, she was told to make her emails “pop,” she said. “I would do that, and it wouldn’t help.” 

“It was really hard during high school season because I was trying to go out to ID camps and make time to see coaches,” she said. This is how she was recognized by UWF. However, outside of that, the main way of communicating to get noticed was through emails, she said. 

Florida drew her interest because her grandma and extended family live there, so she’s spent a lot of time in the state. 

Her family predominantly lives by Daytona Beach, which is a lengthy eight-hour drive from UWF. Florida’s weather and culture were important factors to her decision as well.

“I feel like the people there are really nice,” she said.

Similar to her college decision factors, the reason Erving was drawn to La Salle was because of its community.

Both her older sisters Kayla Erving, 22, and Emily Erving, 24, attended La Salle.

“Kayla just said the counselors here are really helpful, and the teachers are always supportive no matter what,” Erving said. “I think you will find your people here because it’s such a small community.” 

Over the years, she has continued to play soccer because it presented great opportunities for college scholarships and for her to continue pursuing the sport she loves, she said.

“I just realized that I was given a talent,” she said. “I can really go next level and this can have a good impact on my life.” 

Her biggest inspiration is her dad.

“He’s always been there for me,” she said. “He spent all the money on me to travel and go to these schools and ID camps, and he’s always pushed me to be my best.”

Because of this, Erving stays motivated to continue cultivating her skills.

“I think that’s who I’m really working for to prove [myself] and make proud is my dad.”

Over the years, the sport has not only had an impact on her future, but it has also given her an emotional outlet. “Having soccer is such a good thing for my mental [health],” she said. Though that’s not to say that it doesn’t ever present mental hardships, Erving said.

“Even though sometimes it’s bad, I’ll always have it there as something that is comforting to me,” she said.

Despite burnout and injuries, soccer remained an emotional outlet and source of community for Erving.

“I like the excitement of scoring or doing something good, it feels really good,” she said.

Not only is it therapeutic, but the exercise can also be a motivator.

“I have practice, and it will keep me in shape,” she said. “I also just love being around my team and people and meeting new people and sometimes getting scrappy on the field. It’s just fun to let your anger out sometimes.”

Playing this sport has impacted Erving’s life greatly. 

“It has made me a better person,” she said. “Because I just have so many experiences through soccer that I can relate to, like real life, and so many friendships that have really changed my life.”

Outside of athletics, Erving enjoys participating in the theater and arts departments at La Salle.

“I’ve grown so much as an artist, which is something else I can do for fun,” she said. “I also like the theater program … It’s fun to build things during school because I feel like that’s not really what school is supposed to be.”

In college, she is looking forward to meeting new people and continuing to pursue her interests.

“Going into college with a sport, it’s useful to make friends and build connections,” she said.

Her advice to athletes is to “keep performing to your ability and doing your best, and always play to win,” she said. “Never play to lose.”