Welcome back readers to another edition of Husky History, the column that highlights a former UConn athlete and their accomplishments at the professional level and up to this day.
This week’s edition will focus on Canadian star goalkeeper Stephanie Labbé, who has collected her fair share of championships in her soccer career.
Labbé was born on Oct. 10, 1986 in Edmonton, Alberta. Her adolescent years were spent playing soccer as she was a member of the Youth National team since 2000. At Spruce Grove Composite High School, Labbé split her time in the net and in the outfield before she eventually specialized in goalkeeping at UConn.
Labbé originally planned to enroll at UConn in the fall of 2004, but waited until the second semester in 2005 so she could play in the 2004 FIFA U19 Championships in Thailand. When she did arrive to Storrs in 2005, the freshman played infrequently, but showed immense promise.
Starting nine games and tallying 65 saves with a 4-3 record, Labbé played every minute of the last three games of the season to earn the primary goalkeeper position later on. In league play, she allowed only seven goals in 12 conference games. All signs pointed to a breakout sophomore season.
And that is exactly what occurred. Labbé got the start for 20 of 21 games, helping lead the Huskies to a 10-7-4 record. She tallied an impressive 73 saves during the season, boasting a 0.96 goals against average. Labbé’s defense was so dominant that she strung together a scoreless streak over a six-game span that lasted just over 460 minutes.
Honors for the sophomore included earning one Big East Goalkeeper of the Week award the week of Oct. 16 in 2006. Labbé was also named to the NEWISA All-New England Second Team.
Labbé’s junior season in 2007 was a whole team effort, anchored by the goalkeeper’s leadership. Leading the Huskies to 14-6-2 record and boasting a 0.61 GAA, the junior played every minute of the 22 games. Labbé collected three of her 11 shutouts in the NCAA Tournament against Boston College, Wake Forest and Stanford before falling 3-2 in double overtime to Florida State in the quarterfinals.
The season was an overall success for Labbé and the Huskies. Following the season, the goalkeeper was named to the NEWISA All-New England First Team, the Soccer Buzz All-Northeast Region First Team and the NSCAA All-Northeast Region First Team. Labbé garnered an impressive list of accolades even before her senior season began.
Serving as team captain in 2008, Labbé tallied 96 saves while having the highest save percentage in the Big East at .877. She was named 2008 Big East Goalkeeper of the Year, becoming the second Husky to receive the honor. To cap off her collegiate career, she was named to NEWISA All-New England First Team for the second time.
The former Husky’s professional career was as impressive and extensive as a player could hope for. As a member of the Swedish club KIF Örebro, Labbé was honored as the Sweden North Player of the Year in 2009. She also helped lead the team to second place in the top division in 2014.
Following her time in Sweden, Labbé later played on NWSL’s Washington Spirit from 2016 to 2017. Her time in the NWSL didn’t end there, as she played two seasons with the North Carolina Courage, winning the NWSL League title and Championship in 2019.
Labbé signed with Paris Saint-Germain in August 2021 and announced her retirement after the season in early 2022, closing a remarkable career.
It would be remiss to not mention Labbé’s performances on the world’s grandest sporting stage: the Olympics. Her first experience was as a member of the 2016 Bronze medalist team at the Rio Olympics where she started five of the six games, allowing only four goals.
Her time to shine came in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. After allowing only two goals and securing two penalty shootout victories with one of them coming against Sweden in the final, Labbé and her team claimed the gold medal for Canada.
The former Husky has made an impact both on and off the field. Labbé is the founder of the Stephanie Labbé Excellence Fund, which provides grants to low income families with children participating in club-level and recreational sport. The grants are awarded to families in the Tri-Region communities of Spruce Grove, Stony Plain and Parkland County.
By 2024, the fund is envisioning an outdoor public soccer field for children in the Tri-Region community to give them a space to play and make friends. It is a great cause created by a very accomplished UConn athlete.
Currently, Labbé is serving as the general manager of the Vancouver Whitecaps Women’s Soccer team and has been since October 2022. UConn fans are proud to have an alumni who supports the community and has represented the university at the highest level in athletics.