Dartmouth Duo Helps Team USA to 3-0 Start at World Cup

* Team USA Home Page
* "The Blague from Prague" - Official Team USA Blog
* FIL World Cup Home Page

Former Dartmouth lacrosse All-Americans Whitney Douthett '07 and Devon Wills '06 have helped Team USA to a perfect 3-0 start at the Women's World Cup in Prague, Czech Republic.

In the first three days of action, the US has flexed its muscles with wins over upstart England, Canada and Japan ? the first two marked by tremendous second-half runs.

In the opener on Thursday, the US bounced back from a 6-6 halftime tie with England to take an 11-2 advantage in the second for the 17-8 victory. Wills started the game in goal and made four saves in 51 minutes before resting the final nine. She also picked up three ground balls, a caused turnover and came out of the cage to record an assist. Douthett added a ground ball in the win.

Game two on Friday proved more of the same in a grudge match with North American rival Canada. After trailing, 4-3, at halftime, Team USA shut out its northern neighbor in the second half en route to an 11-4 victory. Wills was again tremendous with seven saves and two ground balls and Douthett picked up two ground balls and a shot on goal. Wills has continued to wow the crowds in Prague with her flashy play outside the cage, often a rarity in international play.

Today's contest with Japan was quite the shootout, as a 26-12 US victory set the record for most combined goals in a World Cup game (38). Ironically, Ireland and the Netherlands had broken the previous record on Friday with 36 combined goals. Douthett scored her first goal of the tournament to give the US a 10-4 lead in the first half. She had a solid day on the field with two ground balls and a draw control. Wills took part of the afternoon off before playing the final 20 minutes, making two saves.

The most anticipated game of the tournament is on tap for Monday, June 22 when the US faces off against archrival Australia at 4:30 p.m. (Prague), 10:30 a.m. (EST). The Aussies are off to a similar start with a 16-11 win over Canada and 24-4 triumph against Japan. While team USA has Sunday off, Australia will face England in what should prove a good pre-match barometer.

Schedules