July 20, 2009
WELLESLY, Mass. - Three members of the University of Maryland field hockey team were selected to represent the United States at the 2009 BDO Women's Junior World Cup, the premier showcase for the world's top under-21 national teams, which takes place in Boston from August 3-16.
Brianna Davies (Annville, Pa./Palmyra) and Alexis Pappas (Mount Joy, Pa./Donegal), a pair of Terrapin seniors in the upcoming 2009 season, and junior Katie O'Donnell (Blue Bell, Pa./Wissahickon) received word of their selection to the 18-member U.S. Junior World Cup Team at the conclusion of the Junior National Training Combine at Babson College on Sunday.
"This is an incrediby proud moment to have three Maryland student-athletes represent the U.S. at the first-ever (International Hockey Federation) tournament in this country," Terps' head coach Missy Meharg said. "We're of course wishing USA the very best next month in Boston."
All three Terps are also members of the U.S. U-21 National Team, where O'Donnell serves as team captain. The Blue Bell, Pa., native and three-time All-American has been named a co-captain of the 2009 U.S. Junior World Cup Team.
"I'm glad to be playing with two of my Maryland teammates," O'Donnell said. "It will be a good experience for us before we head into the 2009 season."
O'Donnell is one of two players on Team USA to have competed in the last Junior World Cup, in 2005 in Chile, where the Americans placed a best-ever seventh. "I think we have a good group of girls that are able to go further than we did last time," she said.
Davies, a midfielder from Annville, Pa., earned her first All-American citation as a junior in 2008, helping the Terps to their third national title in four years.
"I think we're going to do very well; we've been training hard and improving every day," Davies said. "We have a good shot to medal. The team is real excited that (the Junior World Cup) is in Boston because that should give us a good fan base."
Pappas, a midfield player from Mount Joy, Pa., is a first team Mid-Atlantic All-Region performer who tallied an assist on Maryland's game-winning goal in the 2008 National Championship versus Wake Forest.
The U.S. Junior World Cup Team will hold its final training camp later this month at the University of Massachusetts in advance of the event at Harvard University's Jordan Field.
The 2009 Junior World Cup will be the largest international field hockey event to ever be held in the U.S. Sixteen national teams will compete in the event, including Argentina, Australia, Belarus, Chile, China, England, France, Germany, India, Lithuania, Korea, Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain and the United States.
The Terps will get their 2009 regular season underway in Evanston, Ill., at the Wildcat Classic on Aug. 28 versus Ohio. Maryland is looking for its fourth national crown in five years, having won back-to-back titles in 2005 and 2006 along with last season's championship.
