Sarah Hagen
Sarah Hagen is a forward on the U.S. U-23 Women’s National Team
and also plays for FC Milwaukee of the WPSL and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Sept. 13, 2011
Senior season
The first eight games are over, and we couldn’t have asked for a better start to our season. We are starting conference play this Friday, and we’re sitting on a 7-1 record. Our only loss came from our in town rival, Marquette, who is a very good team. Losing to Marquette hurt a little bit, but I’m proud of the way our team bounced back a few days later to beat our in-state rival, Wisconsin. We have had some big wins this season against Michigan State, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Long Beach State. Now going into conference we are looking to build off of this great start.
We are a part of the Horizon League and will be on the road facing Cleveland State for our first conference game. I don’t think anyone on the team is looking forward to the eight-hour bus ride, especially since we had to go there last year as well. It’s weird to think that this will be my last time playing Cleveland State or any other conference team. The time over your four-year career goes by so fast. I remember talking to the seniors when I was a freshman, and they were telling me how fast the four years go by. I didn’t really believe them, but now I know exactly how they were feeling back then. It’s not only sad in the sense of not playing college soccer anymore, but more in the sense of not being around the girls on the team and in particularly my class. But we are all trying to make the most of the season and be as successful as we can.
Senior season
The first eight games are over, and we couldn’t have asked for a better start to our season. We are starting conference play this Friday, and we’re sitting on a 7-1 record. Our only loss came from our in town rival, Marquette, who is a very good team. Losing to Marquette hurt a little bit, but I’m proud of the way our team bounced back a few days later to beat our in-state rival, Wisconsin. We have had some big wins this season against Michigan State, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Long Beach State. Now going into conference we are looking to build off of this great start.
We are a part of the Horizon League and will be on the road facing Cleveland State for our first conference game. I don’t think anyone on the team is looking forward to the eight-hour bus ride, especially since we had to go there last year as well. It’s weird to think that this will be my last time playing Cleveland State or any other conference team. The time over your four-year career goes by so fast. I remember talking to the seniors when I was a freshman, and they were telling me how fast the four years go by. I didn’t really believe them, but now I know exactly how they were feeling back then. It’s not only sad in the sense of not playing college soccer anymore, but more in the sense of not being around the girls on the team and in particularly my class. But we are all trying to make the most of the season and be as successful as we can.
Aug. 12, 2011
Senior year is here!
Senior year is already underway. Can’t believe it! The first week of pre-season went well, and it felt great to reunite with the team after summer break. The first couple days of two-a-days were rough on the legs, but everyone managed to get through it, and now it’s just part of the routine. Our freshmen have come in and have been making an impact in our practices and in our first game, which is very exciting to see.
On Monday, we had our first exhibition game at Northwestern, and we were able to come out with a 2-1 win. The win hopefully gives the freshmen some confidence going into our other exhibition games and then into regular season games. On Saturday, we play against our alumni, and then on Sunday, we will play Northern Illinois University to close out the exhibition games.
Our first game of the season is on the road at Michigan State. We are all excited for the game to come and look forward to starting the season on a good note. Last fall we started our season on the road as well, facing Ohio State, another Big Ten team, and were able to come out with a win. This year, our team is starting to take its shape, and I think we will be ready come kick-off.
Senior year is here!
Senior year is already underway. Can’t believe it! The first week of pre-season went well, and it felt great to reunite with the team after summer break. The first couple days of two-a-days were rough on the legs, but everyone managed to get through it, and now it’s just part of the routine. Our freshmen have come in and have been making an impact in our practices and in our first game, which is very exciting to see.
On Monday, we had our first exhibition game at Northwestern, and we were able to come out with a 2-1 win. The win hopefully gives the freshmen some confidence going into our other exhibition games and then into regular season games. On Saturday, we play against our alumni, and then on Sunday, we will play Northern Illinois University to close out the exhibition games.
Our first game of the season is on the road at Michigan State. We are all excited for the game to come and look forward to starting the season on a good note. Last fall we started our season on the road as well, facing Ohio State, another Big Ten team, and were able to come out with a win. This year, our team is starting to take its shape, and I think we will be ready come kick-off.
July 23, 2011
Final days with FC Milwaukee, final thoughts on World Cup
Since my last blog, my team (FC Milwaukee) and I finished our regular season on a good note. Our last two games were both against the Madison 56ers, one on the road and one at home. In Madison, we were able to tolerate the 95-degree weather and walk away with a 2-0 win. The goals were scored by myself and teammate Laurie Nosbusch, who plays at the University of Wisconsin. In our last game at home against the 56ers, we came out sharp and looked well-prepared for the playoffs. We won the game 5-0 this time and the goals once again were scored by myself and Laurie.
So now it’s time for the playoffs to begin. We had ended up finishing in second place to the Chicago Red Stars, who we knew that we would most likely have to face again if we wanted to advance to the Final Four. Our first game of the playoffs was against Ohio Premier, which meant we had to travel from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Dublin, Ohio. It was about an eight-hour car ride there, so we got there the day before. Come game time the next day, it was another hot one at kickoff. Having only one sub for the weekend, we managed to squeak away with a 1-0 victory over Ohio Premier, and would have to face the Chicago Red Stars for the third time this season. The next day against the Red Stars we had some good chances, but weren’t able to capitalize on them. They pretty much controlled the game for the most part and came out with a 4-0 victory over us. It wasn’t the way we wanted to go out, but they are a great team and are more than capable of winning the entire league.
After losing to the Red Stars and our season is now over, we have to drive all the way back home. I wouldn’t normally mind this, but an hour after our game ended, the Women’s World Cup Final kicked off. So we listened to the first half on the radio as we covered some ground on our eight-hour journey home. Although my teammates and I knew what was happening in the game it still wasn’t the same as watching it live so we made my parents stop at Chili’s to watch the second half. Unfortunately, the U.S. gave up the goal to send the game into overtime. Well, we had to keep driving otherwise we would’ve never of made it home. So we continued to listen on the radio for the remainder of the overtime and shootout. Hearing the outcome of the game was shocking. We all couldn’t believe it, but I’m very excited for the entire team on the journey that they had. It was an exciting World Cup to watch.
Final days with FC Milwaukee, final thoughts on World Cup
Since my last blog, my team (FC Milwaukee) and I finished our regular season on a good note. Our last two games were both against the Madison 56ers, one on the road and one at home. In Madison, we were able to tolerate the 95-degree weather and walk away with a 2-0 win. The goals were scored by myself and teammate Laurie Nosbusch, who plays at the University of Wisconsin. In our last game at home against the 56ers, we came out sharp and looked well-prepared for the playoffs. We won the game 5-0 this time and the goals once again were scored by myself and Laurie.
So now it’s time for the playoffs to begin. We had ended up finishing in second place to the Chicago Red Stars, who we knew that we would most likely have to face again if we wanted to advance to the Final Four. Our first game of the playoffs was against Ohio Premier, which meant we had to travel from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Dublin, Ohio. It was about an eight-hour car ride there, so we got there the day before. Come game time the next day, it was another hot one at kickoff. Having only one sub for the weekend, we managed to squeak away with a 1-0 victory over Ohio Premier, and would have to face the Chicago Red Stars for the third time this season. The next day against the Red Stars we had some good chances, but weren’t able to capitalize on them. They pretty much controlled the game for the most part and came out with a 4-0 victory over us. It wasn’t the way we wanted to go out, but they are a great team and are more than capable of winning the entire league.
After losing to the Red Stars and our season is now over, we have to drive all the way back home. I wouldn’t normally mind this, but an hour after our game ended, the Women’s World Cup Final kicked off. So we listened to the first half on the radio as we covered some ground on our eight-hour journey home. Although my teammates and I knew what was happening in the game it still wasn’t the same as watching it live so we made my parents stop at Chili’s to watch the second half. Unfortunately, the U.S. gave up the goal to send the game into overtime. Well, we had to keep driving otherwise we would’ve never of made it home. So we continued to listen on the radio for the remainder of the overtime and shootout. Hearing the outcome of the game was shocking. We all couldn’t believe it, but I’m very excited for the entire team on the journey that they had. It was an exciting World Cup to watch.
July 8, 2011
Return to the U.S., reunited with FC Milwaukee
After I arrived back from camp in Sweden with the U23 WNT, I reunited with my club team FC Milwaukee. Last Thursday, we played one of the better teams in our division of the WPSL - the Chicago Red Stars. It felt great suiting up for my club team again, and it was a great game to come back to. While in Sweden, I had missed the first game against the Red Stars, so I was glad I was able to play in this one.
We came out and got an early two-goal lead, however, they were able to get two quick goals before the half ended. In the second half, the Red Stars pretty much took over the game and scored another two goals to seal the victory. Of the six goals scored in the game, three of them were penalty kicks. I can’t remember the last time I played in a game with that many PKs.
After the game, a few of my college teammates and I went away for the weekend to celebrate the 4th of July. My parents just recently bought a cabin in northern Wisconsin located on Legend Lake, in Keshena. The weather was perfect all weekend for laying out on the pontoon boat, tubing with the speed boat, and sitting by the campfire. There are two different cabins on the lake that spend a bunch of money on fireworks every year to put on a show for everyone on the lake. The fireworks were the best that I have ever seen, and being on the lake made them that much better. It was unbelievable how many boats were out on the water.
Our next game in the WPSL is against Chicago Eclipse, and hopefully we can get a better result.
Return to the U.S., reunited with FC Milwaukee
After I arrived back from camp in Sweden with the U23 WNT, I reunited with my club team FC Milwaukee. Last Thursday, we played one of the better teams in our division of the WPSL - the Chicago Red Stars. It felt great suiting up for my club team again, and it was a great game to come back to. While in Sweden, I had missed the first game against the Red Stars, so I was glad I was able to play in this one.
We came out and got an early two-goal lead, however, they were able to get two quick goals before the half ended. In the second half, the Red Stars pretty much took over the game and scored another two goals to seal the victory. Of the six goals scored in the game, three of them were penalty kicks. I can’t remember the last time I played in a game with that many PKs.
After the game, a few of my college teammates and I went away for the weekend to celebrate the 4th of July. My parents just recently bought a cabin in northern Wisconsin located on Legend Lake, in Keshena. The weather was perfect all weekend for laying out on the pontoon boat, tubing with the speed boat, and sitting by the campfire. There are two different cabins on the lake that spend a bunch of money on fireworks every year to put on a show for everyone on the lake. The fireworks were the best that I have ever seen, and being on the lake made them that much better. It was unbelievable how many boats were out on the water.
Our next game in the WPSL is against Chicago Eclipse, and hopefully we can get a better result.
June 23, 2011
Sarah Hagen: Looking Back on Sweden
The last 11 days or so I have spent playing with the U23 WNT in Falun, Sweden. We left the States on June 12th and didn’t have any problems with our flights over. We landed and took a two to three-hour bus drive to our hotel in Falun, where we rested for a few hours and then got right to business. The field that we practiced at was about 25 minutes away from our hotel and was in nice condition. There were local youth soccer teams that would hang around the field watching us, asking for autographs, and taking pictures with us, which made the experience more memorable. The first few days we had double training sessions until we got close to our first game, which was against Norway. I thought our training sessions went really well this camp. The only thing that truly hindered our training was the lack of sleep we were all getting, due to the time change. Personally it took me about five or six days to somewhat adjust to the time change. Also, in Sweden this time of the year, it only gets dark outside for about three hours a night, so that was very deceiving. We would be hanging out after practice one night watching tv together and it would be completely light at 11 at night.
So once Friday rolled around, we had our first game of the trip against Norway. At the start of the game we came out really flat. Norway was a sitting back with little defensive pressure, which forced us to force unnecessary passes forward. We went into halftime being down, 2-0. Our coaching staff got us regrouped in the locker room, and we came out in the second half and completely dominated. We got two goals back to equalize the game at 2-2 by fellow blogger Amber Brooks and myself. Unfortunately, we gave up a game-winning goal in the 90th minute of play off of a free kick from about 40 yards out.
So we had to quickly learn from our mistakes and move our focus onto playing Sweden on Sunday and Tuesday. The two games we played against Sweden were very different from each other, which showed in the results. The first game we were able to move the ball and generate a lot of opportunities, whereas the second game was a ton more physical. Of course if we had lost to a team 4-0 we would’ve came out battling, too. Needless to say the second game was much harder, which resulted in a draw, 1-1. So for the week, we were 1-1-1, which we felt like we could’ve finished 3-0.
Sarah Hagen: Looking Back on Sweden
The last 11 days or so I have spent playing with the U23 WNT in Falun, Sweden. We left the States on June 12th and didn’t have any problems with our flights over. We landed and took a two to three-hour bus drive to our hotel in Falun, where we rested for a few hours and then got right to business. The field that we practiced at was about 25 minutes away from our hotel and was in nice condition. There were local youth soccer teams that would hang around the field watching us, asking for autographs, and taking pictures with us, which made the experience more memorable. The first few days we had double training sessions until we got close to our first game, which was against Norway. I thought our training sessions went really well this camp. The only thing that truly hindered our training was the lack of sleep we were all getting, due to the time change. Personally it took me about five or six days to somewhat adjust to the time change. Also, in Sweden this time of the year, it only gets dark outside for about three hours a night, so that was very deceiving. We would be hanging out after practice one night watching tv together and it would be completely light at 11 at night.
So once Friday rolled around, we had our first game of the trip against Norway. At the start of the game we came out really flat. Norway was a sitting back with little defensive pressure, which forced us to force unnecessary passes forward. We went into halftime being down, 2-0. Our coaching staff got us regrouped in the locker room, and we came out in the second half and completely dominated. We got two goals back to equalize the game at 2-2 by fellow blogger Amber Brooks and myself. Unfortunately, we gave up a game-winning goal in the 90th minute of play off of a free kick from about 40 yards out.
So we had to quickly learn from our mistakes and move our focus onto playing Sweden on Sunday and Tuesday. The two games we played against Sweden were very different from each other, which showed in the results. The first game we were able to move the ball and generate a lot of opportunities, whereas the second game was a ton more physical. Of course if we had lost to a team 4-0 we would’ve came out battling, too. Needless to say the second game was much harder, which resulted in a draw, 1-1. So for the week, we were 1-1-1, which we felt like we could’ve finished 3-0.
June 12, 2011
Sarah Hagen: From Appleton to the National Team
Since this is my first blog for Our Game Magazine, I thought I would start off by introducing myself and give everyone a little bit of information on who I am and how I’ve gotten to where I am now as a player and as a person. First off, I almost never respond to my actual name. Almost everyone I talk to on a daily basis calls me by my nickname, Apple.
I was born and raised in Appleton, Wisconsin and got the nickname when I was in sixth grade. Being a talented player growing up, it allowed me to play for the best teams in Wisconsin. From sixth grade and on, I was traveling two hours south for practices with club teams in Milwaukee. When I had first joined the club team in Milwaukee there were already two other Sarah’s on the team, so one of the parents started calling me Appleton. I know this is not very clever, but it has evolved to Apple or Ap, and it just seems normal now. However, when I do go back home to Appleton, everyone calls me Sarah or by my last name. It’s as if I live in two different worlds.
By the time I was a freshman in high school, I was used to the routine of getting picked up directly from school to drive down to Milwaukee for practice and getting home at 9 p.m. three times a week. With tournaments and league games on the weekends, soccer pretty much took up most of my time, but this is nothing absurd for any child wanting to grow up into a college soccer player. Then one day, at the end of January, I had found out that I had cancer. The cancer I had was called Dysgerminoma. It’s classified as a germ cell tumor that came off of my left ovary. From here, my life completely changed. I went through several surgeries and three rounds of chemotherapy throughout the four-month process. It was extremely hard for me to overcome it, but the prayers from family, friends, classmates, and teammates greatly helped get me through the most traumatic experience of my life. I just celebrated my six-year anniversary last month and hope to continue that streak. Overcoming cancer is something I am very proud of and love sharing my experience with others.
Sarah Hagen: From Appleton to the National Team
Since this is my first blog for Our Game Magazine, I thought I would start off by introducing myself and give everyone a little bit of information on who I am and how I’ve gotten to where I am now as a player and as a person. First off, I almost never respond to my actual name. Almost everyone I talk to on a daily basis calls me by my nickname, Apple.
I was born and raised in Appleton, Wisconsin and got the nickname when I was in sixth grade. Being a talented player growing up, it allowed me to play for the best teams in Wisconsin. From sixth grade and on, I was traveling two hours south for practices with club teams in Milwaukee. When I had first joined the club team in Milwaukee there were already two other Sarah’s on the team, so one of the parents started calling me Appleton. I know this is not very clever, but it has evolved to Apple or Ap, and it just seems normal now. However, when I do go back home to Appleton, everyone calls me Sarah or by my last name. It’s as if I live in two different worlds.
By the time I was a freshman in high school, I was used to the routine of getting picked up directly from school to drive down to Milwaukee for practice and getting home at 9 p.m. three times a week. With tournaments and league games on the weekends, soccer pretty much took up most of my time, but this is nothing absurd for any child wanting to grow up into a college soccer player. Then one day, at the end of January, I had found out that I had cancer. The cancer I had was called Dysgerminoma. It’s classified as a germ cell tumor that came off of my left ovary. From here, my life completely changed. I went through several surgeries and three rounds of chemotherapy throughout the four-month process. It was extremely hard for me to overcome it, but the prayers from family, friends, classmates, and teammates greatly helped get me through the most traumatic experience of my life. I just celebrated my six-year anniversary last month and hope to continue that streak. Overcoming cancer is something I am very proud of and love sharing my experience with others.
