Aug. 15, 2011
HANOVER, Germany – Incoming goaltender Allie Murray and defender Barbara Sullivan helped the United States women’s lacrosse Under-19 team claim its fourth straight World Championship gold medal Saturday with a 14-11 victory over Australia. The U.S. team finished the tournament with a perfect 8-0 record.
After finishing pool play with a mark of 5-0, including a dominant 20-7 victory over the same Australia team in the round robin finale, the United States advanced into the finals with convincing quarterfinal and semifinal decisions. After dispatching Scotland in the quarterfinals (13-1), the U.S. showed no let-up in the semifinals in defeating England, 19-5.
The American team would struggle to pull away from Australia in the finals, taking a 7-7 score to the half, the first match in the tournament that the U.S. had not led at that point in the contest. After falling behind 8-7 out of the gates in the second half, the U.S. put in five consecutive goals to take a 12-8 lead and lay claim to the championship title.
The victory for the U.S. marked the fourth consecutive World Championship title for the U-19 team. In each of those four matchups, the Americans have met and defeated Australia in the gold medal game.
Sullivan and the U.S. defense proved to be very stingy throughout the tournament, allowing a championship-best 5.38 goals per game, while only allowing more than 10 goals in the gold-medal match.
Murray, meanwhile, appeared in the cage in six of the eight contests for the U.S. squad. She finished with 20 saves overall while starting one contest – Haudenosaunee – in which she finished with three saves and earned the win.
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