How Connecticut Roots Helped Prepare Alyssa Naeher For World Cup

Although it took Alyssa Naeher time to become the starting goaltender of the U.S. Women’s National team, she was ready for the opportunity because of who helped her along the way.

Naeher, a native of Stratford, Conn., is set to appear in her second Women’s World Cup and learned from goalie coach Tony DiCicco. Before he became a coach, DiCicco was a goaltender for a number of teams, including Springfield College and the U.S. National Team.

DiCicco, who died in 2017, helped form a goaltender camp alongside ex-University of New Haven coach Joe Machnik in the late 1970s. Naeher took part in the camp when she was 14 years old. Fortunately for the now 35-year-old, she also played for DiCicco when he served as the coach of the United States U20 team.

It helped Naeher tremendously on her path to the USWNT.

“I think the biggest thing with Tony, even for us back then as 19-20-year-old kids, he treated us like the senior team,” Naeher told The Boston Globe’s Frank Dell’Apa. “He obviously had done it before back with the senior team. But he knew what the tournament entailed. He knew what it was like to have games every few days, he knew the rhythm. He understood when to give players days off, when to let them see family, because he’d experienced it. And he treated us like the senior team, and that was invaluable for us.”

Following an impressive college career at Penn State, Naeher played for the Boston Breakers. During that time, she also learned from national team veterans, including another Connecticut native, Kristine Lilly.

“That helped me tremendously,” Naeher told reporters before traveling to New Zealand. “I was very fortunate as a young player to play behind that group of incredibly experienced and talented players. And they all took me under their wing and I learned a lot from each and every one of them.”

Naeher made her USWNT debut in 2014, and the 11-year veteran hasn’t looked back since.