Clockwise from left:
Danielle Etrasco celebrates one of her three goals in Team USA’s 19-5 gold medal win over Canada.
Katrina Dowd, who set a World Cup record with 26 goals in seven games, has Canada’s Janaye Dzikewich on the run.
U.S. goalie Devon Wills poses with admirers from Team Japan.
“We take a lot of pride in playing the game the right way, because we know we have a lot of eyes on us,” said Dowd, an alternate in 2009. “It’s nice to know that people appreciate our style of play. We play a clean game, a hard game, and we really focus on the little things.” Team USA set a high standard with
its short-but-sweet motto it shared on Twitter: #BLEP.
By the numbers, the 2013 U.S. team was the most dominant squad in FIL history. In seven games, Team USA went 7-0 and trailed for a combined total of 8 minutes, 40 seconds. They scored 127 goals and allowed just 34. Their average margin of victory was 13.2 goals, breaking the previous FIL record (11.8) set by the U.S. in 2001. Team USA’s 19-5 win over Canada in the gold medal match was an even bigger blowout, the most lopsided World Cup final ever. Australia previously held the record for margin of victory with a 14-7 win over the U.S. in 2005. That loss set forth a rebuilding era
for Team USA. A group of World Cup rookies eked past Australia in the 2009 gold medal match. Ten of those players returned in 2013. They were in their primes.
Individual records fell, too. In the gold medal match, attacker Katie Rowan set a new U.S. single-game mark with eight goals, surpassing Karen Yohannon’s seven-goal performance in 1989. Rowan’s partner in crime, Katrina Dowd, scored 26 goals in Oshawa, the most by any U.S. player in a World Cup tournament.
A Publication of US Lacrosse
Best Lacrosse Ever Played. “The coaches have stressed to us that we know that we have people who look up to us, and we’re trying to do our best and play the game in the best way we possibly can, and with that, trying to push the game to the next level,” U.S. team captain Lindsey Munday said.
During their final months of training before the World Cup, when the players were scattered across the country and responsible for their own workouts, each of them hooked a karabiner to the laces of her shoes. Whenever she dropped her head in exhaustion, she saw a reminder at her feet that she was linked to her teammates in pursuit of a common goal. “We wanted to make a statement with this team. I don’t think we took anything for granted. We just wanted to play the best lacrosse that has ever been played,” goalie Megan Huether said. “That’s where we were, and it let us go in and focus on each other and not worry about what’s been told to us, like we’re expected to win, or we’re the frontrunner.” The all-for-one ethos was never more apparent than when Team USA unleashed its signature “Aces” ride on opponents. It was a full-court press, predicated on tough re-defending and smart double- teams. It stretched from the attack to the
continued on page 40 September 2013 >> LACROSSE MAGAZINE 37
©TIM BATES/GAME DAY PHOTOGRAPHY (DE); ©JC PINHEIRO (KD); ©TWITTER (DW)
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