Tara Bilanski became Tara Erickson at her wedding five years ago in Hawaii.
Erickson’s marriage to Kraig Erickson epitomized more than love and commitment though – the ceremony also exemplifies just how much history she has with the current Washington coaching staff.
After all, among those in attendance were Huskies coaches Lesle Gallimore, Amy Griffin and Tami Nguyen. In fact, they were the bridesmaids.
“It was a very happy time,” Erickson said. “I don’t think it is too unusual for coaches to go to each others’ weddings.”
Erickson, a coach at Portland State at the time, played in Seattle for the Huskies in the early 1990s and was an assistant from 1996 to 1998. She worked with all three women.

Now, Erickson’s just days away from a Sunday reunion with the trio and her old stomping ground. The third-year Oregon coach will take the Seattle exit owning a 2-0 record against her former team on Sunday when her squad takes on the Huskies. Gallimore, who’s been Washington’s head coach for 14 years, said it she looks forward to seeing her.
“Tara was the leader of the team and clearly one of the strongest and most driven players,” said Gallimore of Erickson, who played for the Huskies from 1992-95. “She always wanted to do well and was motivated. And she got the program into the tournament. Not single handedly but she was a catalyst.”
A leader on the field, and a pest off it, Gallimore joked.
“She would come in and plop down in the chair in my office during all her breaks,” said Gallimore, who welcomed the visits but admitted that, at times, she was trying to get other work done. “I was happy to give advice whenever she needed it, but I think she understands now with 25 or 28 kids of her own.”
Erickson, now 34, got a laugh out of that.
“Now that I am a coach, I realize what a pain in the butt I was,” Erickson said. “Now I encourage my players to come in. It’s nice spending time with them, just chit chatting about things outside of soccer and figuring out what makes them tick. It nurtures the player-coach relationship.”
Erickson, a center midfielder, led the Huskies in goals (8), assists (6) and points (22) in 1993. In 1995, she earned a team-best 12 goals and 30 points.
Though Erickson would go on to become a three-time team MVP, four-year letter winner and captain in Seattle, she nearly transferred after her sophomore year.
Dang Pibulvech, who coached Erickson during her freshman and sophomore years, took a coaching job at Texas. She thought about following him and becoming a Longhorn.
“I took a trip down to Texas but Lesle was the one of the main reasons I stayed,” Erickson said.
“We were up front with each other,” Gallimore said. “I said, ‘You are one of our best players and we don’t want you to go.’ At the end of day, she stayed.”
Erickson ended her career with 27 goals, including seven game-winners, and 20 assists.
During her final two seasons, Erickson garnered all-Pacific-10 Conference first-team and All-America West honors while propelling Washington to its first two NCAA tournament appearances in school history.
The Huskies fought tooth and nail with Stanford in 1994, falling just a penalty kick short of a Sweet 16 berth. A year later, Washington lost to Portland in the first round of the national tournament.
Many of Erickson’s individual career records sat unmatched for years. Some have held up, others surpassed. And that’s fine with Erickson – she stopped keeping track of those numbers long ago.
“I was more on the pioneering side of things,” Erickson said. “Now I want my players to set records.”
When she couldn’t set anymore records in Seattle, Erickson was split between continuing her career overseas and beginning a career in coaching. Ultimately, she moved to Frankfurt, Germany, where Erickson played professionally for a year.
“That was a great experience,” Erickson said. “I thought about staying a few more years.”
Afterward, Erickson actually got the best of both worlds with the Washington State Select women’s squad: She was a player-coach from 1997 to 1999.
In 2000, she guided The Northwest School in Seattle to the state playoffs.
“I was just getting my feet wet,” Erickson said.
Erickson took over at Portland State in 2001. She spent four years transforming one of the Big Sky’s worst teams into a perennial conference contender before earning the head-coaching gig at Oregon in 2005.
Erickson’s first trip back to Seattle was a successful one. The Ducks defeated Washington 1-0. After the match, Erickson said everything had come full circle for her.
That was two years ago. Now, she’s just focused on winning two more Pac-10 victories – her women first play Washington State on Friday.
“I think it is nice to have been there and done that, but now it is more just about getting a win,” said Erickson, whose Ducks defeated the Huskies 3-1 at Papé Field in 2006. Erickson was named Pac-10 Coach the Year at the season’s conclusion.
On Sunday, Erickson and Gallimore will see each other again, undoubtedly with more memories than there’ll be time to share.
“There are too many to recall,” Erickson said. “We just had such a great relationship.”
Gallimore watched Erickson lead a team on the field. She watched her legitimize PSU. Come Sunday, she’ll take the opportunity to welcome her back home.
“For whatever teeny, tiny part I had in her being a great coach, I am proud of her as a former student-athlete of mine,” Gallimore said. “It is impressive.”
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