Emma Hruby
Nov 6, 2023
Paige Bueckers missed the entire 2022-23 college basketball season with an ACL injury. And as she prepares for her return to the court for UConn, she also is looking back on her lost year.
The 22-year-old redshirt juniorspoke with “SportsCenter” about the emotional toll of the injury.
“The hardest moment definitely would be sitting in that waiting room after my MRI, the doctors telling me I tore my ACL,” she told ESPN’s Alexa Philippou.
Bueckers is good at internalizing her emotions, and she didn’t want to be a burden on her teammates, she said. But when describing those emotions to Philippou, including how she tried both to grapple with them and to be a good teammate at the same time, Bueckers teared up.
“Hiding my emotions was definitely hard,” she said. “It just hurt so bad not being able to go out there, especially with all of the stuff we were going through as a team. But I think the biggest thing for me was coming in every day and making sure that nobody saw the dark times, the sad times I was going through.
“As a team leader I was just trying to do everything I could to have a positive attitude about everything and make sure that every time I came into the gym, every time I came to practice, every time I came to rehab I had a great attitude, I had a smile on my face.”
And even after enduring the hard times, Bueckers wouldn’t change her path.
“I wouldn’t trade my life for the world, I know that everything I went through up to this point has shaped me to be who I am as a person and as a player,” she said. “If I didn’t go through some of the things I went through, I wouldn’t be who I am. The story I want is just the story of overcoming adversity.
“Obviously I wish there could have been no injuries, but it’s just a part of my story and a part of my journey in life. But definitely hoping to make the most of the time I have left here.”
Bueckers made her unofficial return to the court in an exhibition game Saturday against Southern Connecticut State, but she and the Huskies officially will start their season at 7 p.m. ET Wednesday against Dayton.
From yesterday’s SportsCenter: 2021 national player of the year Paige Bueckers takes us through her ACL recovery, what it was like sitting out the majority of the past two seasons, and how she changed who she was to come back better than ever. Story + full convo drop Wednesday pic.twitter.com/DotqzpqJfi
— Alexa Philippou (@alexaphilippou) November 6, 2023
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Emma Hruby
Apr 15, 2024
Maria Sanchez, who signed one of the biggest deals in NWSL history just four months ago, has reportedly requested a trade from the Houston Dash.
ESPN was the first to report the news, which was confirmed by multiple sources.
In a statement to ESPN, the team said: “Maria Sanchez is under contract, a choice she made in free agency at the end of 2023."
In December, Sanchez signed a new three-year contract with the Dash worth $1.5 million including bonuses and an option year. At the time, it was the largest contract in NWSL history – something that was eclipsed by multiple contracts in the following months.
The winger was a restricted free agent in the offseason, meaning that Houston could match any offer from another team and retain her rights. Should the team trade Sanchez, her contract would remain as it has been signed with the league. That limits the number of teams that could take on her contract.
In three starts with the Dash this season, Sanchez has zero goals and an assist. The Dash are 1-2-1 through four games and have allowed a league-worst 10 goals.
The team hired a new coach, Fran Alonso, in December. Earlier this year, former goalkeeper coach Matt Lampson was fired for violating the league’s Coach Code of Conduct and Anti-Fraternization policy.
Both the NWSL trade window and transfer window close at midnight ET on Friday.
Canada got its revenge on Sunday, winning the 2024 IIHF Women’s World Championship and taking down the U.S. in a 6-5 overtime classic.
Marie-Philip Poulin, a longtime star for Canada, got her first two goals of the tournament, while Danielle Serdachny had the game-winner.
GOLD FOR CANADA! DANIELLE SERDACHNY WINS IT IN OVERTIME! #WomensWorlds pic.twitter.com/fHmqUmHoGw
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) April 15, 2024
"I hate to say you're not trying to rely on it, expect it, but I know I've grown to expect it," Canada coach Troy Ryan said of Philip-Poulin. "Tonight was just a whole other level. I could see in her eyes every time we called her name that she was ready to go. It's just special."
The win came after Canada lost 1-0 to the U.S. in the group stage of the tournament. On Sunday, the two teams met for the 22nd time in 23 tournaments in the gold medal game – and the action between the two teams delivered.
Among those scoring for the U.S. were Megan Keller, Alex Carpenter, Hilary Knight, Laila Edwards and Caroline Harvey. Julia Gosling, Emily Clark and Erin Ambrose had the other three goals for Canada, giving them their 13th World title after falling to the U.S. in last year’s title game in Toronto.
This year’s game was held in New York, and it was the second-highest scoring final between the two teams. The U.S. won a world championship 7-5 in 2015.
"Oh man, that feels good to win it on U.S. soil," Canada goalie Ann-Renee Desbiens said after the game. "We owed it to them and owed it to ourselves to win that one."
Canada also denied Knight a record 10th World Championship win, although she did become the most decorated player in women’s world championship history with 14 medals. After the game, Poulin gave Knight a hug on the ice.
"We just said 'that was unbelievable,'" Poulin said.
U.S. coach John Wroblewski echoed the sentiment that it was an outstanding game after being asked about ending the game on a power-play after leaving too many players on the ice.
"Instead of talking about the isolated events of tonight's game, I think that normally that's an interesting storyline,” he said. “But I think the entity of an amazing 6-5 game is an amazing hockey game that took place."
Emma Hruby
Apr 12, 2024
Emma Hruby
Apr 12, 2024
Members of the Oregon women’s soccer team are saying they received harsh treatment and even verbal abuse from head coach and former USWNT assistant Graeme Abel.
During the 2023 season, the team had zero wins, and upon its conclusion a total of 12 of the team’s 29 players departed the team. Former players told The Oregonian that Abel would verbally attack them, threaten to kick them off the team and at times would even throw objects.
"When I’d make a mistake at practice, it felt like he made it a job to embarrass you to the point where you just wanted to walk off the field,” one player said. “He’d stop the practice – and I know it’s college soccer, it’s very competitive — but he’d stop practice and just keep going nonstop on this one thing."
In total, the Oregonian spoke with 14 former players – including 12 who agreed to be interviewed in depth. All said that they experienced verbal abuse. Six of the players were among those who transferred following the season.
One instance of Abel’s tirades included him throwing a water bottle that narrowly missed players’ heads.
“He kicked all of our staff out of the locker room, kicked a trash can, threw a white board, sat on the trash can and started screaming,” one player recounted. “He wanted us to tell him what we thought went wrong in the game. Me and another player spoke up, and he said, ‘You’re just (expletive) wrong.’ And that if we didn’t want to be in this program, we could all quit, and he’d sign our release paperwork tomorrow.”
While Abel was not made available for an interview, he did say in a statement that “at no point have I used threatening statements or financial repercussions as a part of coaching.”
Instances of emotional distress stemming from Abel’s alleged harsh treatment date back to 2021 – his first full year leading the team following an abbreviated 2020 campaign.
One former player contacted by The Oregonian detailed positive overall experiences, and described his style as “normal coaching.”
Others, like USWNT players Becky Sauerbrunn and Lindsey Horan, did not respond to requests for comment, although Sauerbrunn wrote in 2019 that she had a “great relationship” with Abel.
Still, multiple players interviewed had similar stories, with one saying that girls would be “crying in the locker room” after practice because of what he would tell players. Attempts to speak with the administration about his behavior, players say, was “discouraging.”
“His office is like the scariest place,” one player said. “You’d have to sit there while he’d belittle you and say all these nasty things, and gaslight you into believing you’re not good enough. ... Our team fell apart because of the environment he created. We were just trying to get through the day. There was no way we could focus on soccer.”
Multiple players said they experienced suicidal ideation while playing at Oregon. In part of his statement, Abel wrote that “at no time do we put our student-athletes in any danger.”
Abel is currently in his fifth and final year of his contract at Oregon.
