Noreen Andersen said she’s a believer in things happening for a reason.
When rehab after surgery to repair a torn labrum in her left hip caused her to miss trying out for the U.S. women’s U-19 national lacrosse team last summer, it opened another door for Andersen.
Fully recovered from her injury by the end of September, Andersen, a senior on the Glenbrook South team, decided to try out for Ireland’s women’s national team. Andersen is a dual citizen of the United States and Ireland. Two of Andersen’s grandparents were born in Ireland, and Andersen’s mother, Sheila O’Brien, holds dual citizenship.
The Irish opportunity presented itself after her mom contributed $25 to an Irish lacrosse fund. Andersen investigated further and found out her dual citizenship allowed her to try out for Ireland’s team.
“I don’t know what would have happened had I tried out for the U.S. team,” Andersen said. “I probably would not have made the team, but I am not sure I would have looked into the Irish team. But because of that injury, I did it.”
After a three-day tryout in Dublin in October, Andersen was selected to the Irish team, learning the news the day before Thanksgiving. She’s one of seven Americans on the 18-player roster.
“To represent my heritage and my home country is really cool,” said Andersen, who plans to play college lacrosse at Princeton.
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O’Brien, who said she holds “a soft spot” for Ireland, acknowledged the serendipity of the situation.
“I could have [thrown away] that flier about Irish lacrosse,” she said. “But I thought why not support them.”
Andersen missed her entire junior season at Glenbrook South with the hip injury, opting to have surgery the week of the team’s tryouts. Last spring, the Titans ended their season with a 6-5 loss to New Trier in the state semifinals. While Andersen wanted to be on the field, she said she learned to play a different role.
“I was on the bench, pumping up our players,” Andersen said. “If they got down, I’d get them up again. I was part of a support system. To lose [to New Trier] by one goal hurt because I wanted it for those players out there and our coaches.”
A midfielder, Andersen is one of 13 seniors on this year’s Titans, and one of nine senior starters. The Titans entered this week 6-1 after a 4-0 trip to southern California. Andersen’s one of the team’s top scorers.
Glenbrook South coach Annie Lesch said she’s happy to have Andersen back on the field, and that the team has improved in each game this season. Although the Titans aren’t getting ahead of themselves, Lesch said the team has high hopes this spring.
“Everyone’s eyes are set on the playoffs,” Lesch said. “But we are trying to look back to last season to see what got us [to the semifinals]. How did we get there? What did we do well?”
Andersen said the Titans approach every day with the mindset that every practice and every game is part of the road toward capturing the state championship.
“This is one of Glenbrook South’s most experienced teams in a while, and every girl is so talented,” she said. “Last year kind of hurt, but we have to have short-term goals and long-term goals.”
Once the season ends, Andersen will turn her attention to Ireland. She won’t join the national team until this summer when she is scheduled to travel to the Czech Republic for the Women’s European Lacrosse Championships, which takes place Aug. 6-16. She said the players are getting to know one another through a Facebook page.
All four of O’Brien’s grandparents were born in Ireland, but she said they left for America before Ireland earned its independence from the British Empire in 1922.
“It’s been an interesting journey, for sure,” O’Brien said of Andersen earning a roster spot on the Irish team. “It’s kind of neat that Noreen can say she’s playing for her great grandparents.”
Twitter: @harnesspreps