Player of the Week: Aiden Londergan ’27 Talks Hat Trick vs. Trinity, Growing Up in a Soccer Household, and Striving to Win

Aiden Londergan ’27 is a chemistry and Molecular Biology and Biochemistry major from Barrington, Ill., and a midfielder on the men’s soccer team. Londergan has experienced a career year up to this point, starting all 10 games in the midfield and playing for more than 60 minutes in all but one match. He’s been a key contributor to the Red and Black’s 4–0–2 start in NESCAC play, putting five balls in the back of the net within their last three games. Three of those five came this past Tuesday, as Wes hosted Trinity for a midweek clash of Connecticut rivals. Londergan’s hat trick pushed the Cards past the Bantams, 4–1, putting Wes firmly in second place in the NESCAC. Londergan sat down with The Argus to discuss his hat trick, his beginnings in soccer, and the Red and Black’s recent hot streak. 

The Argus: When did you first start playing soccer?

Aiden Londergan: I first started playing soccer when I was three. My dad was a soccer player, so I got introduced to it from a young age. I probably picked it up when I was three. My older brother is a year older than me and played soccer, so I would practice with him, and I started playing recreational soccer from a young age with him.

A: Do you have an early memory when you fell in love with the game?

AL: My earliest memory with soccer was scoring a penalty on a travel team when I was six years old, and I vividly remember it because I was playing with my brother.

A: Do you have any athletes you looked up to when you were young?

AL: I’m a big Chicago sports fan, so I’ve always loved Michael Jordan as an athlete. My favorite soccer player was Lionel Messi. He’s incredible.

A: When did you start considering playing soccer in college?

AL: I played on a club team where it was common for people to go from that club to college, so a lot of my teammates around me were going to college. So I kind of knew from junior year in high school that I wanted to play for as long as I could, and if that means college, that’s great. 

A: What is the most rewarding and most difficult part of being a student athlete in your experience?

AL: The most rewarding part is having a community of guys that you [can] be yourself around. That’s one of the things I love about Wesleyan—it’s very accepting of who people are. One of the best things about being on the team is having that community of guys who understand what you’re going through and want to see you succeed more than anything. One of the most difficult things, I would say, is just managing the time and the hard course loads of making everything work. There’s not really an hour or two where I’m just completely free. It feels like I’m always doing something during the season. When the season’s over, it’s nice to relax, but definitely in season, it’s a big time commitment.

A: What were your personal goals and the team goals going into this year?

AL: As a team, we want to win something. Nobody really cares if we have a great season and win eight or 10 games if we don’t walk away with winning a conference championship or going far in the playoffs. Personally, I did want to score some goals. I didn’t really have a number. For me, this whole semester has just been about improving myself and understanding myself mentally. I feel like I’ve been showing that on the field. 

A: On Tuesday, you poured in a hat trick on Trinity en route to a strong 4–1 victory over the Bantams. What in the gameplan was working that allowed you to shine on the field?

AL:  I want to give a huge shout out to my teammates because we have some really creative guys on our team: Joshwin Jennings [’27], Yousuf Saeed [’27], and Will Martin [’26]. These past couple of games, I’ve been scoring, but if you look back at the film, a lot of these chances were created by those guys. So I owe a lot of it to them. I also think of the saying: “This too shall pass.” I am playing well right now, and I have no idea if or how it’s going to continue, but I’m going to try and keep staying present and not really worry about the details of it too much. Best not to overthink it. 

A: What has led to this current hot streak you all are on, and what makes you confident that you can compete come playoff time?

AL: Every team in our conference is good, and a lot of times the games come down to who has it that day and who’s mentally prepared. As a team, our talks in the locker room are more about winning and focusing on ourselves as a team. That’s one of the big things we’ve been focusing on: How are we going to improve? We’ve just been focusing on playing our game, and it’s been working out. 

A: If you could give your first-year self a piece of advice about succeeding as a student athlete at Wes, what would it be?

AL: Don’t think too much. I feel like it’s really easy to overthink about life, about how things are going, and kind of hoping things go one way and then not going one way. Focus on being present in the moment.

Max Forstein can be reached at mforstein@wesleyan.edu.