Sara Whalen
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Sara Eve Whalen | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | April 28, 1976 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Natick, Massachusetts, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Playing position | Defender | ||||||||||||||||||||
| College career | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1994–97 | Connecticut Huskies | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1997–99 | Long Island Lady Riders | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2001–02 | New York Power | 31 | |||||||||||||||||||
| National team‡ | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 1997–2000 | United States | 65 | (7) | ||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of December 25, 2013. ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of December 25, 2013 |
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Sara Whalen Hess (born April 28, 1976), née Whalen, is an American retired professional soccer player. Whalen played for the United States Women's National Soccer Team from 1997 to 2000, and was a founding player of WUSA.
Born in Natick, Massachusetts to John and Linda Whalen, Sara was raised in Greenlawn, New York with her sister Deborah. She attended Harborfields High School in her hometown where she played varsity soccer, basketball, and track (as a sprinter).
After high school, Whalen went to The University of Connecticut, where she was a defender and forward for their women's soccer team. While playing soccer for Connecticut, Whalen was a three-time All-American and was the 1997 NSCAA Division 1 National Player of the Year as well as being named to Soccer America's Collegiate Team of the Decade for the 1990s. Whalen scored both goals in the 1997 NCAA Final Four semifinal match against Notre Dame, as Connecticut won 2–1 to record one of the biggest upsets in NCAA women's soccer history by defeating the previously unbeaten Irish. Whalen was the 1995 and 1996 Big East Defensive Player of the Year, before playing striker her senior season where she recorded 21 goals and 22 assists to lead her team in scoring.
In 1997, Whalen began her career for the US Women's National Soccer Team as an outside defender. She earned her first cap against France, while still in college. The following year, 1998, Whalen had a very successful season scoring two goals and garnering three assists. In 1999, Whalen helped the US Women's National Team win the Women's World Cup, playing every minute of extra-time in the final against China. Whalen was pictured on the cover of Time Magazine hugging Brandi Chastain. The following year, Whalen won a silver medal as a part of the US Women's team at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
In 2001, Whalen was a founding player of the Women's United Soccer Association, playing alongside US teammates Christie Pearce and Tiffeny Milbrett for the New York Power. On June 26, 2002, in a game against the Carolina Courage, Whalen tore her ACL and MCL after a collision with German international Birgit Prinz. This occurred just after recovering from a broken rib. Whalen had surgery, but noticed her knee was infected shortly thereafter. During her second surgery Whalen had a severe allergic reaction, nearly dying. The doctors realized that the infection was in one of the screws, within the ligament of her knee, which had to be removed. Whalen had to go through five surgeries, including moving ligaments from her right to left knee, to repair her injury. This marked the end of Whalen's professional soccer career.
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