Saturday, October 6, 2012

Dashiell, Meagher to participate in Stars & Stripes event for US Women's National Team

Two Florida lacrosse standouts, senior midfielder Brittany Dashiell (Bel Air, Md.) and senior goalie Mikey Meagher (Liverpool, N.Y.), will participate in the Stars & Stripes event Sunday, October 7 at Stanford University as part of the U.S. Women’s National Team.  This is the first event for Team USA as it begins preparations for the 2013 Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) World Cup.

Team USA will face Australia in a match up of the world’s top two teams for the first time since 2009, when Team USA defeated Australia 8-7 to capture the gold medal at the FIL World Cup in Prague, Czech Republic.  In addition, Team USA will square off against Team Canada and collegiate programs Cal and Stanford and will also hold several training sessions.  Dashiell and Meagher are part of a 38-person roster for Team USA that will eventually be narrowed down to 18 in February 2013.

Both Dashiell and Meagher are coming off impressive junior campaigns for the Gators. Dashiell was a Tewaaraton Award and Honda Sports Award finalist along with earning three All-American distinctions in the 2012 season.  She finished in the top four of every statistical category for UF, leading the team with 69 points and 25 assists, second with 17 caused turnovers, third with 44 goals and 46 draw controls and fourth with 31 ground balls.

Meagher is the reigning Goalie of the Year from IWLCA, SynapseSports.com, and WomensLax.com and earned three All-American honors in 2012.  She made 19 starts in 2012 owning a 16-3 record with 145 saves and allowed 125 goals for a .537 save percentage and a 7.03 goals-against average in 1066:31 in the cage. Meagher also led the nation in both save percentage and goals-against average, becoming just the third goalie to do so since the NCAA began recording statistics in 1996.

The matchup between Team USA and Australia will be broadcast on ESPN 3 with opening draw set for 1 p.m. EST. Fans can also follow along on Twitter at @LacrosseMag or @USLacrosse. Additional information can be found on the US Lacrosse Web site.