Former SOL standouts Lauren Crandall and Katie O’Donnell are members of the U.S. National field hockey team that is vying for a spot in the Olympics next year.
Lauren Crandall and Katie O’Donnell are at the top of their game.
The two former Suburban One League standouts are both members of the United States field hockey team.
Team USA recently completed a four game friendly series against 2012 Olympic silver medalist Argentina at the home of USA Field Hockey, Spooky Nook Sports in Lancaster.
The first three games were ties, but the United States triumphed in the finale, winning, 2-0.
Crandall, a 2003 graduate of Central Bucks East, scored two goals in the series. She had the tying goal in the second game and added a goal in the final game on a penalty stroke.
“It was just a matter of me hitting on a corner that my teammates earned, and in this game, I hit on a stroke that my teammates earned,” said Crandall, who has been the team captain since 2011. “I have the easy part but they’re the ones who earn it.
“I’m very happy with how the team has progressed in this series. It’s always our focus to make sure we learn and grow from every game. I think we played some really good hockey against the number three team in the world. They’re always great competition and I think we really rose to the occasion.”
The series was a success for Team USA, which entered the event ranked eighth in the world while Argentina was ranked third.
“I’m happy to say that while everyone else thinks this is a great result, we think we could have done better and we should do better and that’s the standard we hold ourselves to,” said O’Donnell, a 2007 graduate of Wissahickon. “We weren’t overly happy with the three ties. Those were games we could have won and we had chances to win that we didn’t capitalize on.
“We’re always looking forward and we always want to do better and I’m glad the team has that perspective.”
Team USA moved to Lancaster after a stint in San Diego. Both Crandall and O’Donnell live in Lancaster and train for the team full time.
“We train a lot but we’re lucky to get to see things in the area, and I like being so close to home,” O’Donnell said. “I get to go home often and see my nieces and nephews grow up.
“I also get to do a lot of coaching at the high school and middle school level. It’s nice to give back to the sport. Field hockey is really popular around here. When we were in San Diego, it wasn’t, so there wasn’t much we could do as far as helping teams along but now that we’re here we have that opportunity and it’s something I love to do.”
She plans to have a camp at Wissahickon this summer.
Crandall also enjoys the proximity to family.
“It’s so nice being closer to home,” she said. “I’m the youngest of four. My brother has kids in Nashville but one sister lives in Oreland and the other in Chalfont and my parents are still in Doylestown so it’s a nice break to get home to see them.”
Both players had outstanding college careers. Crandall helped Wake Forrest to back-to-back NCAA titles in 2003 and 2004 while O’Donnell, who went to Maryland, won the 2010 Honda award en route to becoming the most decorated player in program history.
This year is a qualifying year for the 2016 Olympics, and both players have their eyes on Rio de Janeiro.
“That’s the goal,” Crandall said. “This is a qualifying year so this is a big year for us, but we never put pressure on ourselves to qualify for the Olympics. The goal is for us to be playing our best hockey at the right time and then hopefully it will all fall into place.”
Should the US qualify it would be the third Olympics for Crandall, who played in both the 2012 London Olympics and the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
It would be the second for O’Donnell, who was on the 2012 team.
“This is a very big year,” O’Donnell said. “We have two opportunities to qualify within two months of each other and we just have to be on point. We’re hitting the ground running and in the next month or two we have to be in the best shape of our lives and maintain that until qualifying time.”
Neither player has post-2016 plans.
“I’m a commitment-phobe,” said Crandall, who turns 30 on St. Patrick’s Day. “I just focus on what’s next. That’s great for an athlete, but I’m not sure how it is for life after that. I’m open to any ideas.”
After the 2016 Olympics, O’Donnell will be 27.
“I don’t even know what my plans are for tomorrow so I couldn’t say what I’m going to be doing after that,” she said. “It depends on how my body feels. I’m young enough that I could go one more (Olympics).”
The US finished 12th at London, which was last place.
“This Olympics we’d definitely love a better finish but even if the outcome was the same I’d feel like we had a better perspective on it,” O’Donnell said. “I feel very well prepared. If the Olympics were tomorrow I’d be ready and that’s something I didn’t have in the last Olympics. I’m really looking forward to competing against the top teams and see how we compare to them now.”
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