HANOVER, N.H. - Dartmouth women's lacrosse alumnae Whitney Douthett '07 and Devon Wills '06 will again don the red, white and blue as members of the US National Team, competing at the 2009 FIL Women's World Cup in Prague, Czech Republic from June 17-27.

This marks the second-straight summer that the duo will compete for the United States as part of its elite team, but it is the World Cup debut for both, as the event is held every four years. Douthett and Wills are part of an 18-woman roster and Dartmouth is one of just five colleges to have multiple players on the squad. Team USA begins its quest for the cup on Thursday, June 18 when it takes on England at 11:30 a.m. EST.

No strangers to the US National Team, Douthett and Wills helped their squad to an undefeated championship run at the 2008 Prague Cup last summer. Wills was named the goalkeeping MVP of that event. The two have experienced success throughout their lacrosse careers, including two NCAA Final Fours with Dartmouth and a spot in the NCAA Championship game in 2006, Wills' senior year.

Wills is in her seventh year in association with US Lacrosse, having been on the Elite team since 2007, with four prior years as part of the Developmental Team. Currently home in her native Colorado and serving as a volunteer assistant for the University of Denver, Wills spent two years as an assistant coach for Dartmouth. During her standout collegiate career, she was a three-time All-America and four-time All-Ivy pick in goal.

Douthett has also been with US Elite since 2007 after first earning a spot on the Developmental squad in 2005. A native of Newtown, Pa., she currently works for Majestic Research. A midfielder, Douthett holds the Dartmouth career assists record and was a three-time first team All-Ivy pick and three-time All-American. She also earned All-Ivy status on the soccer field for the Big Green.

Team USA looks to get back to the top of the world this week, having seen its streak of four consecutive World Cup titles snapped by archrival Australia in 2005. Prior to that, the Americans had won titles in 1989, 1993, 1997 and 2001. The squad will be doing it with young guns, as no player on the team has previous World Cup experience.

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DENVER – University of Denver women's lacrosse volunteer assistant Devon Wills will play in goal for Team USA, while former Pioneers' midfielder Karen Morton will represent her native Australia at the 2009 FIL Women's World Cup in Prague, Czech Republic, from June 17-27.

A Denver native, Wills was a three-time All-American and four-time All-Ivy League performer as the goalkeeper for Dartmouth from 2003-06. Wills and the United States will take to Pitch A in their opening game on Thursday against England before facing Canada on Friday and Japan on Saturday.

Morton, who hails from Adelaide, Australia, graduated from Denver as the Pioneers' all-time leading scorer with 190 goals and 255 points in her four-year career. Morton also ended her career as DU's leader in draw controls (162) and caused turnovers (106), second in ground balls (181) and fourth in assists (65).

Morton was a four-time All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Team and All-MPSF Tournament Team member prior to joining the Aussies. Australia plays Canada on Thursday, Japan on Friday and England on Sunday. In addition to Morton, the Australian team features former DU assistant coach and current Loyola head coach Jen Adams.

Team USA will meet Australia for the final game in Pool A on Monday before a playoff system leads to the championship.

The United States has claimed five of the seven World Cups titles, while the Australians have won the other two. The two countries have met in the finals five times, including the past three. In 2005, the Aussies snapped the Americans' streak of four-straight championships.

2009-06-17