SYDNEY LAMB’S RISE TO TEAM USA
“I was just like, ‘oh my gosh, this is insane’.”
Illinois native Sydney Lamb went from being a relatively unknown prospect a few years ago, who originally missed out on the USA Hockey 15s National Camp, to now becoming one of the best young defenders in the entire country who recently won a silver medal at the U18 Women’s World Championships in Vantaa, Finland, this past January.
“Going from not even being on anybody’s radar to then going to Lake Placid to play against Canada - it was just surreal for me,” said the now 17-year-old skater.
(Contributed Photo)
Growing up in the Chicago suburb of Lombard, Lamb skated with Team Illinois and, most recently, the Windy City Storm program. Missing out on 15s National Camp as a young hockey player may have been a huge bummer for the developing defender at the time, but not seeing her name on that list of athletes who did make the cut wound up being the fuel to the fire that she needed to take her game to the next level.
“I was really upset with how I wasn’t able to make that camp and it just pushed me to work harder and to make sure that the next year that I wouldn’t be in that position,” she said in an interview with Clean Sheet Hockey. “Honestly, if I didn’t get cut that year, I don’t know if I would be where I am today with my work ethic. I think it was kind of a blessing in disguise.”
Lamb took that new motivation from that offseason and put her nose to the ground to become the best that she could be at her position - and it worked. The very next summer she was selected to the USA Hockey 16/17s National Camp and was invited to participate in the prestigious USA vs. Canada U18 Summer Series in Lake Placid, NY. Although she didn’t make the final roster cut for the eventual USA U18 team that fall, scouts and Division I coaches had started to take notice of her stellar play on the blue line.
In October of 2023, Lamb acheived another exciting development in her hockey career. She announced her commitment to play Division I hockey at St. Cloud State University.
“I am extremely excited to announce my commitment to play Division 1 hockey and further my education at St. Cloud State University,” she posted to her Instagram account. “I want to thank God and all my coaches, family, friends, and teammates for all the support you have given me and pushing me to be better everyday. I can’t wait to see what the future holds.”
Lamb then had a very successful junior season in 2023-24 which was followed by another invitation to the U18 USA vs. Canada Summer Series, this time taking place in St. Catharines, Ontario. She played well in those three matches and was subsequently sent another invite to a small selection camp in Minnesota that fall to finalize the roster for the USA U18 Women’s Worlds roster. It was there that she found out she had officially made the cut to compete for the U.S. in the upcoming 2025 U18 Women’s World Championships in Vantaa, Finland.
“I texted my parents, my grandparents and my brother all in a group chat and said ‘we’re going to Finland!,” she said about making the USA roster. “They were like ‘great - booking our tickets now!’, they were so excited and my whole family ended up going out there with me which was really, really cool.”
For someone who simply could have given up after not making the 15s National Camp a few years prior, Lamb persevered through that adversity and has now become one of the top defenders in the nation.
The 17-year-old skater then flew overseas to compete in the U18 Worlds this past January and had the experience of a lifetime to represent her home country.
“Getting to put on the jersey, it’s such a surreal moment, no matter how many times you do it,” she spoke about competing for Team USA. “Every time you put it on, it’s such an honor and it’s so awesome to be able to do that.”
Team USA wound up winning a silver medal at the tournament by winning all of its games at the event before eventually falling to Canada in the championship match, 3-0.
(Contributed Photo)
Fast forward to now February of 2025 and Lamb is preparing for playoffs in her senior season of hockey before heading off to college in St. Cloud, Minnesota, later this year.
The Lombard, Illinois native chose the Huskies program for multiple reasons. “I knew I wanted to stay close to home, I wanted to play in the WCHA or ECAC because they are very competitive, and school-wise I don’t really know what I want to major in, so going to a school that has a lot of options was a big thing for me and St. Cloud has almost everything that I could ever need,” she said.
Lamb is also excited to play for a bit of an underdog program in St. Cloud that has been turning things around over the past few seasons under head coach Brian Idalski.
“They’re really working their way up and I think it’s really cool. Even with their win last night (a 4-3 win against Minnesota at Ridder Arena), just watching them grow and knowing that I get to be there next year is really, really cool.” She added that she is no stranger playing for teams that have an underdog mentality and that she isn’t afraid of putting in the hard work to get her teams to the top.
She’ll have some familiar faces on the Huskies squad this upcoming fall too, as current Windy City Storm teammate Reese Strauts is slated to join the team as well, as is Aruba Skiston of the Chicago Mission program. Skiston and Lamb were defensive partners for a few years while playing for Team Illinois when they were younger, so it’ll be nice for the two athletes to have that familiarity already with each other.
For now, Lamb is focused on finishing up her current hockey season with hopes of winning a state title and a national championship. She’ll join St. Cloud State in the fall of 2025.
For Huskies fans, you can expect the 17-year-old defender to be a big time player out on the ice. Lamb is a skater who can lock things down defensively and isn’t afraid to use her body to block shots. She has also played forward a little bit with her team when needed, which has helped her develop an offensive style of play from the blue line that makes her unafraid to jump up in the rush.
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