Winters Mill Graduate Erin McMunn Scores Big for Team USA

Being a part of the state champion girls lacrosse team two years in a row would have been accomplishment enough for many young athletes.

But 2011 Winters Mill graduate Erin McMunn has gone international with her lacrosse skills. For the past two weeks she has been representing the United States in the U-19 Federation of International Lacrosse World Championships in Hanover, Germany. 

McMunn corresponded with Patch via email from Germany. She said she found out in February that she made the U.S. team. 

"It was a three-day tryout at UMBC," McMunn said. "We've just had a lot of practice weekends together since the roster was picked. It's pretty neat; they flew us to Boston for the first practice and to Florida for the second and then we also went to New York and Philly and Bel Air. It was pretty cool to get to see a lot of places that I otherwise never would've seen."

McMunn joked that one of the most stressful parts of her trip was packing. She said that she tried to pack for every possible situation. She added that she is making a lot of friends from other teams and feels fortunate to have so many fun girls on the U.S. team.

"Making friends with the other teams has definitely been the best part so far. Everybody is so nice! The Japanese team is very friendly. They throw up a lot of peace signs, and it's awesome!"

According to The International Federation of Women's Lacrosse Associations (IFWLA) website, the IFWLA held its first U-19 World Championship in 1995. In that game, Australia defeated the United States in Haverford, PA, but in 1999, the United States defeated Australia on its home turf in Perth.

The United States repeated as U-19 World Champions in 2003, winning the championship in Baltimore against Australia 21-8. The United States made it three-in-a-row by claiming the 2007 Championship in Ontario, Canada, defeating Australia once again in the final.

The hometown girl, McMunn, isn't intimidated by international competition. According to laxmagazine.com, in the first game against Japan, McMunn scored six goals and was named player of the match. The United States beat Japan 19-5. 

The U.S. has gone undefeated in the tournament leading up to its match against England in the semifinals today (Friday) at 12:30 p.m. The U.S. team's journey has consisted of wins over: Japan 19-5, Canada 13-6, Haudenosaunee 15-3, England 16-5, Australia 20-7, and Scotland 13-1 in the quarterfinals.

Follow Friday's game via Tweets at @USLacrosse.

The winner of the U.S.-England game will face the winner of the Australia-Canada semifinal in the gold medal match. The championship game is scheduled for Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

McMunn will return home on Sunday. No sooner than she gets acclimated to the United States, she'll be packing to travel to Princeton to start her freshman year. It's no surprise that she will be playing on the women's lacrosse team.

McMunn said she expects she will remember this trip for a long time.

"It's unlike anything else to get to represent your country, and I feel so lucky that I got to be here. I'm very grateful for the opportunity and I'm so glad that I got to be a part of this team. It's the greatest feeling to step on the field wearing that USA jersey."