Freshmen Duo Bring Home World Championship

DURHAM, N.C. – Freshmen Taylor Trimble and Brigid Smith helped lead the U.S. Women's Lacrosse Under-19 national team to a World Championship this summer. The duo sat down with GoDuke.com to talk about their experiences in Germany, the victory and their first few days on Duke's campus.

Trimble and Smith started their world championship journey in late July when they trained with the U-19 team and Head Coach Krystin Porcella, assistant coach for the gold-medal winning 2007 U.S. team, for one week before heading to Hannover, Germany.

"We had a training camp the week before,” said Rockville, Md., native, Smith. “We practiced and had a couple scrimmages to get us more prepared.”

A week was all the team needed to bring home the United States' fourth-straight Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) U-19 Women's World Championship. After recording a 5-0 record during pool play, the squad knocked out Scotland (13-1) in the quarterfinals and England (19-5) in the semifinals before notching a come-from-behind victory against Australia (14-11) for the gold medal.

The team's schedule was fierce while in Germany, as they played eight games during the 10-day tournament and 14-day trip.

“I have never played that many games back-to-back,” stated Smith.

Although the duo felt prepared for the number of games, the tough schedule proved challenging near the end of the tournament.

“We were used to summer tournaments, where it is so hot and we're playing against amazing athletes, a lot of our other U-19 teammates, so the number of games wasn't as bad as we thought it would be,” added Trimble, a product of Rosemont, Pa. “Even though the scores were pretty crazy in the beginning, the competition was strong across the board. But once we got to the later rounds it was definitely really difficult to keep up the intensity.”

While in Hannover, the Duke freshmen were able to experience multiple aspects of the German culture. However, they agreed that the games were their favorite part of the trip.

“The most fun was when we would line up; it was really formal,” said Trimble. “The refs would walk across, then both teams would follow and you would be able to hear your national anthem … It was totally a new experience”

“We would exchange gifts too before the games, like little pins, so that was fun,” added Smith. “The whole pre-game thing was really cool.”

The German culture wasn't the only culture that the U.S. team was able to take in during the tournament. Although most teams spoke English, there were a few exceptions.

“It was just really cool, especially when you would play teams like Japan because you never really hear their national anthem,” commented Trimble. “Then after every goal they would announce who scored in Japanese and then they would say it in English. Things like that were really fun.”

Smith and Trimble also agreed that they enjoyed spending time with the other teams and the athletes on the U.S. squad.

“We were really close with the Wales team,” said Smith. “We would go to their games and cheer for them and then they would go to ours and cheer us on. It was so fun.”

Multiple teammates from the U.S. national team will be playing in the ACC this season. The Duke squad will face U.S. team members from Boston College, Maryland and North Carolina. During the fall they will also see teammates from Notre Dame during “fall ball”.

“There are a lot of ACC connections, which is really cool,” said Trimble. “We'll be excited to play them this season”

After playing on the U.S. U-19 squad and also competing in the Under-Armour All-America weekend together, the student-athletes have created a strong bond, both on and off the field. Trimble and Smith believe they will be able to see a difference this fall playing for Duke.

“I think whether you notice it or not, you…” started Trimble.

Smith finished for her teammate, “…have a connection kind of. You are always kind of looking out for each other (on the field).”

Both girls laughed as they realized they were finishing each others sentences. Not only will the two connect on the field, they are both going through those nerve-wrecking first weeks at Duke together.

“We love our dorm,” said Trimble. “It's so much fun meeting everyone.”

“It's nice to know that everybody is in your same position so you can talk to anybody,” added Smith. “You can ask anybody questions and they are willing to help you out because they are new too, so they understand.”

As the freshmen begin their college journey at Duke University and prepare for their first season with the Blue Devils, many memories will be made, but there is one that the two will never forget.

“I will always remember standing up on the stage,” said Trimble. “Everyone was just so happy; we were just screaming and belting the National Anthem.”

“I can't even explain how we felt that day,” added Smith.” It gives me chills just thinking about it.”

-d-u-k-e-

Freshmen Duo Bring Home World Championship

Players Mentioned

Brigid Smith

Taylor Trimble

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Freshmen Duo Bring Home World Championship

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Players Mentioned

Brigid Smith

Taylor Trimble

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