Aug. 8, 2007
by Matt DaSilva, Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff
PETERBOROUGH, Ont. - They cut rug together Tuesday night, but it was the United States busting the seams wide open Wednesday in its 19-1 victory over Scotland in the International Federation of Women's Lacrosse Associations (IFWLA) Under-19 World Championship quarterfinal at Trent University.
Though the two teams had formed a peculiar bond in the tournament's first four days - with the U.S. learning a Scottish jig Tuesday and Scotland's staff stepping off the team bus Wednesday with Starbucks in hand - the cultural bartering ended as soon as scoring leader Josie Owen (3g, 1a) capitalized on a backdoor feed from Emma Hamm for the first goal 31 seconds into the game.
It sparked a 12-0 Team USA run that was interrupted only briefly, when a bizarre sequence allowed Scotland's Nicola Swallow to stop the bleeding.
After Colleen McCaffrey scored the 12th U.S. goal, the Americans players were slow to come out of an official timeout. They were whistled for a delay of game, giving Scotland a rare possession (the U.S. won 18 of the 21 contested draws) and an opportunity to score on an open net on a quick restart.
It was all U.S. after that, tacking on four more goals before the half ended and adding three more in the second half before establishing a holding pattern for the game's final 15 minutes.
All 16 position players scored for Team USA, with Mia Hurrin becoming the 16th player to score at the 20:02 mark of the second half. After two attempts were thwarted by Scottish goalie Roshini Best, a pass from Sarah Bullard found Hurrin on the seam of the crease, and she stuffed it high with her left hand for an 18-1 lead.
Chelsea Robinson capped the deluge with 15:05 remaining.
"It's amazing that our team's so versatile that we can have people who say, `Give it to me,' and she scores," Crotty said.
"We had a limit on the amount of goals, and we figured we should spread them out," said Hamm, who had a goal, an assist, three draw controls and two caused turnovers.
Hamm was an ambassador of sorts for the U.S. on Tuesday, as the players mingled and danced at an IFWLA barbeque with their newfound friends from Scotland, "but we knew they were standing between us and the gold medal, so we had to do what we did," she said.
Team USA (4-0), the top playoff seed, advances to the semifinals Friday against the winner of a 7 p.m. quarterfinal Wednesday between No. 4 England and No. 5 Japan.
Twelve of its 19 goals Wednesday were assisted, with Jordy Kirr and Allyson Carey netting two assists apiece in what was a thorough, if reluctant, victory for the U.S. against a team it has grown close with.
"We love them. They were great. We met them the first night after opening ceremonies - we talked for a little bit. I don't know, we've just been drawn to them - they're so sweet and so nice and encouraging," said Team USA defender Bria Eulitt. "We were talking to them last night at the barbeque and they were like, `Don't beat us by too much.' But they had a good run the last game they had (an 18-6 crossover win against the Czech Republic), so we were like, `Don't even say that, you could come out.' It's anybody's day. They could have come out strong with a couple of goals, but it was just our day."
