By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com Posted 6/28/11
If tonight’s performance was any indication, it appears the United States U-19 team will surely be a favorite to win the Federation of International (FIL) World Championship when it treks to Hannover, Germany in August.
The US squad – featuring Episcopal Academy’s Taylor Trimble and Downingtown East’s Allie Murray – defeated a collection of Philly current and former college standouts, 14-9, at Episcopal in the second and final game of a special exhibition series.
Trimble, a team captain and midfielder, had three goals and three assists and won a number of draw controls against former US standout Emma Hamm (Baldwin School/rising senior at Duke). Meanwhile, Murray was strong as the first-half goalie.
On Monday the US team played the Phantastix, a Philly-based club team, at Hill School, where they are concluding a three-day skills camp for youths on Wednesday. The Hill’s Lindsay Mulhern, along with Dee Cross (Upper Dublin coach) and Brooke Fritz (Radnor) put together a formidable squad of Philly grads to play the U19 team.
The team included Hamm – a first-team All-American this year at Duke who was a mainstay on the 2007 U-19 squad that whipped Australia, 18-3, in the title game at Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. Also playing tonight against the US squad was Ally Carey, a senior at Vanderbilt who played defense on that 2007 team.
Some of the name players that filled the Philly roster included Duke rising senior Kim Wenger (Great Valley), goalie Stephanie Ellis (Radnor/Penn State grad), Ohio State rising senior Gabby Capuzzi (Archbishop Carroll), George Mason rising senior Emily Ellisen (Great Valley), and Notre Dame grad Heather Ferguson (Archbishop Carroll). The Philly squad also featured recent Baldwin School grad Sloan Warren (signed with Virginia) and Mount St. Joseph rising junior defnder Dominique Nyzio.
The US squad pulled away in the second half and dominated the draws and possessions while showing some crisp passing.
“The more we play together, the better we get,” said Trimble, a three-time All-American who will play along with Murray in the Under Armour All-American Game Saturday at Towson University. “As we get closer (to Germany) we get more and more excited.
“We played well together tonight. Playing against this kind of competition has made a huge difference.”
Trimble, interestingly, will play with Hamm at Duke next year. Murray will play at Notre Dame.
Also for the US team, Northport (N.Y.) rising junior Cortney Fortunato scored three goals while recent Good Counsel (Md.) grad Brigid Smith (signed with Duke) scored twice.
The US team is coached by John Carroll (Md.) coach Krystin Porcella. The US squad will convene for final practices July 26 in Bel Air, Md., and then travel to Germany July 31. The FIL tournament will be held Aug. 3-14. The US has won 20 straight games.
Murray said the chance to represent her country is an honor.
“It’s the experience of a lifetime and I can’t wait,” she said. “It’s going to be an incredible experience to meet all those amazing people and play with the amazing people on our team.”
After the game, Hamm and Carey spoke to the U19 team about the distinction of playing for their country overseas.
“I think that listening to the former U19 players really put it into perspective,” Trimble said. “We know what we have coming up and how much this tournament matters.
“They said, ‘You are your country.’ It gave us all chills.
Hamm said she was impressed with the U-19 team’s chemistry.
“I think it was great to see them figuring their chemistry out,” she said. “They seem to have designated leaders on each unit.
“They can be excited.”
All-Time U-19 World Championship Results
Year Site Champion Runner-up Score
1995 Haverford, Pa. Australia def. U.S., 5-4
1999 Perth, Australia, U.S. def. Australia 15-8
2003 Baltimore, Md. U.S. def. Australia 21-8
2007 Peterborough, Ontario (CAN), U.S. Australia def. 18-3
2011 Hannover, Germany ??
2011 U.S. Under-19 Women’s National Team
7 M Madison Acton (Sudbury, Mass./Lincoln Sudbury Regional ’12)
10 D Alyssa Blevins (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright ’11)
5 M Tatum Coffey (Toms River, N.J./Toms River North ’11)
3 A Jen Cook (Towson, Md./ McDonogh ’11)
36 G Kelsey Duryea (Beverly, Mass./Governor’s Academy ’12)
22 D Christine Ferguson (Weston, Mass./St. Paul’s ’11)
15 A Cortney Fortunato (Northport, N.Y./Northport ’13)
25 M Danielle Lazo (Stevenson, Md./St. Mary’s ’11) * traveling alternate
20 A Erin McMunn (Westminster, Md./Winter Mill ’11)
4 M Kelly McPartland (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale ’11)
11 G Allie Murray (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown ’11)
19 M Mikaela Rix (Garden City, N.Y./Garden City ’11)
21 D Caileigh Sindall (Silver Spring, Md./Good Counsel ’11)
6 A Brigid Smith (Rockville, Md./Good Counsel ’11)
14 A Covie Stanwick (Baltimore, Md./Notre Dame Prep ’11)
17 D Barbara Sullivan (Garden City, N.Y./Garden City ’11)
12 M Kayla Treanor (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna ’12)
9 M Taylor Trimble (Rosemont, Pa./Episcopal Academy ’11)
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