Monarch Nation, Meet Sarah Breen
Old Dominion's field hockey team enters the 2013 season following a successful 2012 campaign, one in which they reached the NCAA Quarterfinals. After a rough stretch to begin the season, the team has rebounded with three straight wins, including an overtime home victory against Providence. Leading the way with her scoring and aggressive play is Sarah Breen, who has scored four goals in the last three games; her favorite is the game-winner in the overtime victory. Sarah is a sophomore midfielder or what she would instead call the "corner" position. As the team's standout corner, she already has an impressive resume filled with notable honors: Rookie of the year in Virginia, First Team All-State selection, First-Team All-CAA selection, All-CAA Rookie Team selection, CAA player of the week, and three-time CAA Rookie of the week, and there is little doubt that nothing will stop her from building upon an already great collegiate career.
With all of Sarah's accolades and her bright future, she remains humble and attributes the success towards her dedication, enthusiasm, and, most notably, the people closest to her. She started playing at the age of three and says that "my older sister is my biggest influence. We played together all the time." As a sign of appreciation, Sarah wears an old special ribbon from her mother during games. "It makes the games more meaningful to me when my family comes to watch." Her competitive spirit and enthusiasm as an athlete can also be accredited towards experience as a runner and soccer player. Even though she didn't share the same commitment to those sports as she always has with field hockey, she still has fond memories of both, and all of those memories include her past teammates. As the team's leading scorer, she always reminds everyone that her teammates deserve equal credit for consistently setting up favorable scoring situations where she can capitalize with goals.
As a student-athlete, Sarah divides her time between studying on her own, study hall, games, practices, and traveling for road games. She loves the life of a student-athlete but also wishes there was more free time to spend enjoying her hobbies, shopping being her favorite. She loves shopping for shoes, especially Converses, and she also envisions herself traveling someday, with China being her most desired location. She's already been to Bali and up and down the east coast of the United States. Sarah's experience as a traveler has influenced her to major in Geography.
After reflecting on her career, Sarah says that the most enjoyable moments are with her teammates, and has even earned the label as the funniest team member. Her laid back relaxed attitude creates a great atmosphere on game day.
