A strange thing happened as the U.S. prepared to play England in the 2009 Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) Women’s World Cup semifi nals: Sarah Albrecht got nervous.
Calm, cool and collected — those are Albrecht’s typical traits. She doesn’t get pregame jitters, or mid-game jitters for that matter. She won two NCAA championships at Northwestern — the fi rst two, in 2005 and 2006. The ones that happened way back when no one believed in the Wildcats. And just days earlier, Albrecht had scored the game-winning goal for Team USA’s monster comeback against archrival Australia in the opening round of the tournament.
“I love playing with Sarah. She’s so athletic and makes such tremendous plays,” said U.S. team captain Lindsay Munday, who played with Albrecht at Northwestern.
But in the medal round, with a berth in the championship game on the line, Albrecht volunteered for an assignment that was not her usual thing. For the benefi t of the team, though, she was willing to try.
So she stepped onto the fi eld in Prague, microphone in hand, and sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” in front of hundreds of people, in a clear voice that hit all of the song’s famously diffi cult notes. “It was defi nitely the most nerve-wracking thing I’ve ever done,” Albrecht said.
When the U.S. played Ireland earlier that week, the speaker system at Synot Tip Arena conked out halfway through the Irish national anthem. So the Irish women joined hands and fi nished the song themselves. The Americans followed Ireland’s lead, and began singing their own anthem. But they made a fatal mistake. “As a team, we started a little too ambitious and too high on our notes,” Albrecht said.
As the song progressed and the register climbed, their voices cracked and waivered. They got through it, but barely. The game itself was much easier. Team USA defeated Ireland 20-3. When the semifi nal arrived, Albrecht, an amateur singer and guitarist, thought she could do something special to get her team pumped. So she volunteered to sing, and blew everyone away.
58
LACROSSE MAGAZINE >> March 2013
A Publication of US Lacrosse
FINDING HER
Team USA’s Sarah Albrecht is no stranger to the world stage By Clare Lochary
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108