SANDY — Highly decorated forward Abby Wambach has had more memorable experiences during her 10 years with the U.S. Women's National Team than she can probably remember.
The 29-year-old striker, who has scored 105 goals in 137 appearances for the United States, has accomplished a litany of things over the past decade, including scoring the game-winner for the U.S. in the 2004 Olympic Final against Brazil.
What Wambach and her teammates experienced on Wednesday inside Rio Tinto Stadium in an exhibition game against Mexico didn't compare to the sheer elation of that 2004 Olympic Final or to some of the other fabulous things that Wambach's accomplished.
But it's something that Wambach said she'll never forget.
The pitch at Rio Tinto Stadium was covered with about two inches of snow before Wednesday's match kicked off, and it snowed fairly steadily up until the referee blew the final whistle at the end of what proved to be a 1-0 victory for the United States.
It was the first time in the 26-year history of the USWNT that the U.S. had played a match in snow, and afterward, Wambach could only shake her head at what she and her teammates had just been through.
"It's one of those things that you literally cannot prepare for, and it's an experience that all of us will probably talk about for a long time to come," said Wambach. "We'll never forget Salt Lake City for this reason.
"And," Wambach jokingly added, "(we'll) probably never come back — no, just kidding."
Wambach scored the game's lone goal via an assist by captain Shannon Boxx in the 60th minute, and by that time, Wambach said she had acclimated herself to playing on a pitch where the ball did lots of strange things.
Earlier in the match? Not so much.
"You couldn't predict that it was gonna roll out of bounds because it would stop. You couldn't predict it would stop because it would roll out of bounds," said Wambach. "Everything was the opposite. I was pretty surprised that we got that goal. We were definitely knocking on the door for quite a while, but these conditions were probably the worst I've played under."
Despite the cold and miserable conditions, the U.S. certainly looked like it was having fun when Wambach's goal hit the back of the net with a half hour to go.
Wambach signaled for her teammates to follow her into the corner, where they dropped to the ground and did snow angels.
"We were walking out before the game started, and I said, 'If anybody scores, snow angels for sure,' " said Wambach. "And if we get No. 2, it's gonna be snowball fights."
Snowball fights there weren't, but there were snow angels.
"The snow angels were great," said Wambach. "We, as a team, probably struggle to celebrate well, so I'm proud of us for following through with what we said at the beginning."
All in all, Rio Tinto Stadium officials were just happy to get through Wednesday's match.
Because of when the snow fell and how it fell, director of facility management Hans Niska said his crew couldn't do much.
"We didn't really have options because of how wet the snow was and how late it came on," said Niska.
In the final analysis, though, the uncleared snow made for something that will be remembered for a long time to come.
"It was (surreal)," said Boxx. "The first 10 minutes we looked at each other like, 'What are we doing?' But it's kind of fun to play in every kind of condition, and I think that tops it right there."
e-mail: drasmussen@desnews.com