Amidst all of the patriotic fervor that comes with the Olympics, the United States men’s and women’s national lacrosse teams—which aren’t competing in London—have announced their World Championship rosters. And three former Georgetown stars have made the cut.
The name perhaps most familiar to those following Hoya athletics in recent years is 2012 grad Kelly Barnes, who has been named to the preliminary roster on the women’s side. Barnes, a co-captain this past season, was named a Second-Team All-American as she led the Blue and Gray to huge upsets over then-#2 UNC and then-#8 Penn. The team would eventually win one of four spots in the Big East Tournament in Syracuse, where they failed to earn the league’s automatic berth and were left on the NCAA Tournament bubble.
Molly Ford was a three-time All-American during her four years at GU. (Sports Info)
Joining Barnes on the 36-player list is Class of 2010 alum and Maryland native Molly Ford. A standout attacker during her tenure on the Hilltop, Ford was previously named to the 2011-12 training team, meaning that—unlike Barnes—she already has some familiarity with the national setup.
Both players, however, are well-acquainted with the women’s national team head coach, Georgetown’s own Ricky Fried. Going into his ninth season now at the helm for the Hoyas, Fried has been pulling double-duty for the Stars and Stripes for the past several summers now, having served as an assistant in 2009 on that year’s FIL World Cup-winning U.S. side. Appointed as the head coach following that summer, Fried will now take the team through the 2013 World Cup in Ontario.
The men’s national team, meanwhile, won’t be without its own Georgetown rep: defender Kyle Sweeney ’03 has been selected for the team that will compete in the 2014 FIL World Championship in Denver. 2014 will be Sweeney’s third go-round for the U.S., as he was a part of both the 2006 and 2010 squads, the latter of which took home the gold.