[
HER SPACE] editorial Iron Woman
Set to play in sixth World Cup, goalie Sue McSolvin exemplifies the Aussie lacrosse way
S
ue McSolvin is the Cal Ripken of women’s lacrosse.
Being Australian,
McSolvin — or Macca, as friends and teammates know her — might not appreciate the prestige of being likened to the Iron Man of Major League Baseball. But the comparison is apt. The 2013 FIL Women’s World Cup this month in Ontario will be McSolvin’s sixth straight appearance as a goalie for Team Australia. “Lacrosse is a sport that once it is in your blood, it’s there for good,” McSolvin said. “I will keep playing until I can’t play anymore.” In Oshawa, McSolvin, 42, will become the longest- tenured player for Team Australia, surpassing the five-time mark set by Sue Sofarnos and Marge Bigelow. (In the U.S., the record is a mere four World Cups, held by Cherie Greer Brown, Danielle Gallagher and Jess Wilk Strosberg.) Consider these
benchmarks of McSolvin’s longevity: When she was a 20-year-old rookie in the 1993 games, Bill Clinton and Boris Yeltsin were in their first terms as heads of state, Michael Jordan and the Bulls were on their way to their third straight NBA title and “Jurassic Park” was setting box office records. Perhaps an allusion to a dinosaur movie is infelicitous. McSolvin is no
fossil.The reigning All-World goalie regularly stuffs the NCAA’s all-time leaders in goals (Jen Adams) and assists (Hannah Nielsen) in training camps.
A Publication of US Lacrosse
“She’s still got it. She still gives us headaches,” Nielsen said. “Hopefully she’ll cause other countries headaches at this World Cup.” McSolvin’s lacrosse career began in 1980, when she was 10 and a few male classmates asked her to join their lacrosse clinic. “I was always a bit of a tomboy growing up, playing in the dirt rather than playing with dolls like most girls,” McSolvin said. “From the first time I picked up a stick, I fell in love with the sport and nothing else mattered.”
McSolvin played lacrosse with boys until she was 12, then entered the Australian junior girls’ ranks and gave the cage a try.
“No one would put their hand up to be goalie, so my dad suggested I give it a go, given I had previously been a wicket keeper at cricket,” McSolvin said. “As soon as I got in front of the goal, there was no other position I would rather be on the field.” Lacrosse has taken McSolvin around the world. Her favorite place was Edogawa, Japan, for the 1997 World Cup. She loved the culture and wonderfully warm people, even when the ever-punctual Japanese organizers grew frantic as the championship game went into overtime, delaying closing ceremonies.
The 1997 final between the U.S. and Australia was a bizarre game. Regulation ended in a 2-2 tie, and the game went into double overtime.
“I can still see that last moment of play, where we had the ball in our offensive end of the field and one of our players got dispossessed and the ball came off a U.S. girl’s legs and went straight into another U.S. girl’s stick,” McSolvin said. “She ran it down to their offensive end and took the shot.” McSolvin made a phenomenal left-footed kick save, but American midfielder Amory Rowe got the putback. The U.S. won 3-2. McSolvin had to wait until her fourth World Cup to claim her first gold medal in 2005, when the Australians upset Team USA in Annapolis, Md.
When Nielsen, who was an FIL rookie in 2005, looks back on Annapolis, she remembers McSolvin dominating the crease on the field and the karaoke machine in the team hotel. “If someone was to ask you what Australian lacrosse looks like, she’s one of the first people who come to mind,” Nielsen said. “She’s very laid back, can make fun of herself, wants to have a laugh, finds the funny side in everything and is very loyal to everyone she comes in contact with. To me, that exemplifies what being Australian is. She’s proud to represent her country and to put on the uniform. For someone to have that kind of commitment and passion is incredible.” By day, McSolvin works as a factory manager for
“Once it is in your blood, it’s there for good. I will keep playing until I can’t play anymore.”
— Sue McSolvin July 2013 >> LACROSSE MAGAZINE 33
Slattery and Acquroff, the largest staircase company in Australia. Building staircases is a fitting job for a goalie: You must maintain the fundamentals of your craft, know your angles and direct your team.
In Oshawa, though, the only steps on McSolvin’s mind will be the ones leading to the top of the podium. LM
— Clare Lochary
clochary@uslacrosse.org
©JOHN STROHSACKER
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