Three-fourths of the final game of the U.S. Women’s National soccer team’s World Cup victory tour were complete, and Gina Lewandowski, ’07, patiently waited on the bench.
The scoreboard read 2-1, as the U.S. was beating Brazil in an Oct. 25 match at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida.
But in the 74th minute, in front of over 32,000 fans, the Lehigh alum finally stepped onto the field, her first official appearance in the red, white and blue.
“It was nerve-wracking to finally step onto the field, but in a positive way,” Lewandowski said.
She finally got her chance to represent her country in the sport she’d always loved. Playing alongside well known American female soccer stars such as Alex Morgan and Carli Lloyd, Lewandowski had a special opportunity on her hands.
The victory tour included all the members of the World Cup team plus seven new members, including Lewandowski.
“Throughout the whole week the coach spoke with us and said she’d love to try to get us into a game and see us perform,” Lewandowski said. “It was pretty positive for us all to get that chance to get in, especially against Brazil.”
Lewandowski, now 30, said it’s rare for older players to get their first chance to play in a game like she did. More often than not, the team will try to recruit younger players for the team who have likely just started playing professionally. Lewandowski, however, has already played pro soccer for eight years.
Still, Lewandowski found her way onto the team after receiving an email one day from the team’s manager. She said the U.S. team has ties with Bayern Munich, her current club team, which led to a U.S. team assistant coach to come watch one of Lewandowski’s games. A couple days later, the invite came her way.
She said she was surprised she even got the invitation.
“It’s still exciting to get called up to your national team,” she said. “To be able to train with them for a week and perform is definitely an honor.”
Lewandowski, arguably one of the best players to come through the Lehigh women’s soccer program, has been playing professionally ever since she finished her time in Bethlehem.
It’s impossible to look through a record book for Lehigh women’s soccer without finding Lewandowski’s name all over the page. She is tied all-time for the record for most goals in a single season (15), is second for most points in a season (30), and second in career goals (36) for the Mountain Hawks. She also had 15 game-winning goals in her Lehigh career, seven more than any player in program history.
She won Patriot League Rookie of the Year in 2003 and followed it up with a Patriot League Player of the Year award in both 2004 and 2005. She remains the only Lehigh women’s soccer player ever to win the player of the year award.
In a sport she’s been playing nearly all her life, Lewandowski has turned it into a career, something she wasn’t sure she’d ever do when she first started playing.
“It wasn’t really a realization that is was possible until I finished college and started pursuing opportunities overseas,” she said.
The Coopersburg, Pennsylvania, native spent from 2007-2012 playing for FFC Frankfurt, choosing to go overseas after graduating from Lehigh due to the lack of a professional league in the United States. From 2012 to present, she has played as a defender for Bayern Munich.
She lived with relatives in Frankfurt, Germany, during her time on the Frankfurt team, which she said helped her transition. However, she was forced to immerse herself in a completely different language and culture.
“It’s just an amazing experience on all levels,” she said. “You learn so much about yourself here, about other people and cultures. It opens your eyes to the rest of the world.”
She said one of the biggest changes between college and professional soccer was the fact that most people on the pro teams have lives outside of soccer, whether it’s working another job, going to school or something else.
“You go from college soccer where you’re playing with girls day in and day out, or you’re living with them and going to school with them,” Lewandowski said. “(Pro soccer) is a completely different way of life.”
Following her appearance with the U.S. team, she will continue to play for Bayern Munich in Germany.
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