Three Blue Devil Freshmen Lead U.S. Under-19 Team In IFWLA World Championship

PETERBOROUGH, Ontario - The United States under-19 women's lacrosse team has jumped out to a 3-0 start in the 2007 International Federation of Women's Lacrosse Association's U-19 World Championship. Helping lead the way for the U.S. team are three incoming Duke freshmen. Midfielder Sarah Bullard (Needham, Mass./Buckingham, Browne & Nichols), attacker/midfielder Emma Hamm (Wayne, Pa./Baldwin) and attacker Virginia Crotty (Bernardsville, N.J./Oak Knoll) are all on the U.S. under-19 squad. The tournament is being held at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario.

In the team's first game on Saturday, Josie Owen (Gibson Island, Md./Severn '08) scored eight goals to lead the United States past England, 18-4. Owen's eight goals were one shy of the U.S. single game record of nine, set by recent Blue Devil graduate Kristen Waagbo in the 2003 U-19 IFWLA championship tournament against England. The U.S. scored the first six goals of the game and had a commanding 13-1 lead at the half. Virginia Crotty tallied a goal in the game.

Against Canada in their second game on Sunday, the United States scored the first five goals of the second half to pull away for a 17-7 victory before a crowd of 1,400. Incoming Blue Devil Emma Hamm scored three of the U.S. goals during that critical run. Sarah Bullard, who is also the captain of the team, added a goal to bring the Duke trio's total for the tournament to five in two games.

"It's been a lot of fun playing with Virginia and Emma before we even get to Duke," said Bullard when asked about her new teammates. "They are great players and I'm very excited for the next four years and what we can do at Duke."

The U.S. claimed an 18-6 triumph over archrival Australia on Monday. In that victory, Hamm scored three goals for the second straight game and was named the player of the match for the U.S. Bullard added an assist on the evening.

"The tournament has gone very well so far for us," said Hamm. "We're really getting a taste of higher competition from the other countries' teams. It's really good to see the U.S. team meshing early on in the tournament. It also helps to have your teammates pushing you every step of the way--- it makes you a better player."

Coaching the squad as an assistant is Lindsay Mulhern, sister of Duke head coach Kerstin Kimel. Mulhern is the head coach at the Hill School in Pottstown, Pa. Adding to the sisterly vibe on the U-19 team is Karri Ellen Johnson (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck ?08), sister of Duke senior midfielder/attacker Allie Johnson. Karri Ellen has tallied one goal and one assist in the U.S.'s three games.

After defeating its three Pool A counterparts (England, Canada and Australia) by a combined score of 53-17, the U.S. has earned the top playoff seed and will meet the winner of Tuesday's crossover game between Scotland and the Czech Republic in a tournament quarterfinal Wednesday.

The U.S., a two-time defending world champion, has now won 17 straight games in IFWLA U-19 play since losing to Australia in the 1995 championship game. The tournament playoffs begin today and continue through Saturday.

-d-u-k-e-