Hanks' first year playing for the Irish was in 2005; she held off enrolling at Notre Dame in order to participate in the 2004 FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship in Thailand. Hanks scored 28 goals as a freshman, becoming the third-highest scorer in women's college soccer for that year. Hanks is just one of 23 players ever in Division I women's soccer history to earn All-America accolades all four season and the youngest recipient by class year of the Hermann Trophy, which is presented to the top female and male soccer player in NCAA Division I soccer. Much of Hanks' success came under the mentorship of Notre Dame teammate and Canadian international Katie Thorlakson, with whom Hanks shares the NCAA record in career assists. During Hanks' second season with the Irish she led the nation in goals and assists. Hanks became the youngest recipient, male or female, of the prestigious Hermann Trophy in 2006, selected ahead of the other two finalists, North Carolina's Heather O'Reilly and Yael Averbuch. 2007 was a relatively quiet year for Hanks, despite scoring 14 goals and posting 21 assists for the Irish and making it to the semifinals of the 2007 College Cup, in which Hanks assisted on Carrie Dew's goal in the first half. However, the Irish were defeated, 2-3, by Florida State, who would then go on to lose 0-2 in the final to USC, the eventual NCAA champion. Having finished her bachelor's degree in sociology the spring before her NCAA eligibility ended, Hanks debated over whether to continue playing for the Irish, or end her college career. Hanks decided to take one last chance at an NCAA championship title in 2008, scoring 20 goals and receiving the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. Notre Dame was the top-ranked team in 2008 heading into the 2008 College Cup, defeating Stanford in the semifinal, 1-0, on a goal by Courtney Barg. During the championship game, Hanks scored the fastest goal in the history of the College Cup Final, 16 seconds after the game had started. Winning the championship, however, was not to be; North Carolina responded to Hanks' goal with two goals from Casey Nogueira, and the Irish fell to the Tar Heels, 1-2. Despite that loss, Hanks would receive the Hermann Trophy for the second time, over Nogueira and UCLA's Christina DiMartino. Hanks ended her career at Notre Dame with 84 goals, 73 assists, and 241 points, joining Mia Hamm and Jenny Streiffer as only the third person to reach 70 goals and 70 assists in her college career. Hanks 241 points are the most in school history.
Playing career
Club
Hanks was selected sixth overall in the 2009 Women's Professional Soccer draft, going to the Saint Louis Athletica in the first round. Halfway through the 2009 season, on June 26, 2009, Hanks was traded to Sky Blue FC and helped lead the team to the 2009 WPS Championship. During the 2010 WPS preseason, Sky Blue FC waived Hanks on March 10, 2010; that same day, she was picked up by the Philadelphia Independence. Six days later, on March 16, Hanks left the Independence and joined the Atlanta Beat preseason camp. Atlanta released Hanks on March 26, choosing to keep an extra defender instead. In early April, Hanks resurfaced at tryouts for Icelandic club Stjarnan F.C. in Portugal.
In August 2010, Hanks joined the Texas Christian University women's soccer coaching staff. In addition to her TCU duties, Hanks also coaches the Sting West Silver team of Fort Worth. In 2012, Hanks left the TCU soccer program, and will be relocating to Florida with husband Nic Petersen.
