Emily (Doherty) Hard '16
Year: Class of 2024
Team: Women's Soccer
Emily is one of the WPI Women’s Soccer program’s greats. The combination of her athleticism, her soccer ability, and her competitiveness on the field made her unstoppable. In the classroom and in the WPI community she was equally successful. She helped to bring the WPI Women’s soccer program to new heights.
“On the field, Emily Doherty was a triple threat,” recalls head women’s soccer coach Steph Riley-Schafer. “She was fast, smart, and composed around the goal. As our first-ever All-America honoree, she set the standard and raised the bar for our program.”
She was a dynamic scorer for the Engineers, particularly in the 2015 season, when she set the program’s single-season records with 18 goals and 41 points. For her efforts, she was named the first United Soccer Coaches Division III All-American in WPI history. That year she was also a first team USC All-New England and earned her second straight NEWMAC First Team All-Conference nod.
“When watching Emily on the field, it was always easy to note her exceptional natural talent," says teammate Julia MacLeod ’16. "More important, she also had an unparalleled ability to read the game as a whole. Her vision of the field allowed her to anticipate plays and create opportunities to capitalize off of.”
For her work in the classroom and community, Doherty was honored with selections to the 2015 United Soccer Coaches Scholar Academic All-America 2nd Team and CoSIDA Academic All-America 3rd team. She won the 2014-15 WPI Poly Club Award.
A soccer legend in her own right, she was equally talented and driven in the classroom and impacted the WPI community,” continued Riley-Schafer. “I am very lucky to have had the opportunity to coach a player of her caliber.”
“Playing with Em not only benefited the team as a whole, but her work ethic served as a constant motivator for the team, pushing each of us to elevate our performance and become better soccer players overall. Her commitment to continuous improvement and her willingness to lead by example helped foster a culture of excellence within the team.”
After graduation, Emily continued her education by completing her Masters in Operations and Analytics Management at WPI. She worked at Dell EMC as a program manager until 2019 when she moved to Iron Mountain, where she currently works as a Manager of Digital Program Management.
In April 2019, Emily married Brien Hard, whom she met through the soccer program at WPI. They live in Northborough, Massachusetts, with their daughters, Bridie and Baillie, and their dogs, Captain and Prancer.
