"What we wanted to accomplish was gather 36 players that we felt made up the best group as opposed to looking at the most individual talent," Women's Lacrosse Team USA and Georgetown coach Ricky Fried said after a 3-day evaluation period. He and the selection committee believe that former Virginia goalie Kendall McBrearty is a part of that group, the 36-member 2010-2011 Team USA.
McBrearty, who graduated in 2008 and has since returned to Virginia as a volunteer assistant coach, is the lone Virginia alumna on the exclusive list. While at Virginia, McBrearty was just the second person in ACC history to earn two MVP tournament honors, in 2007 and 2008. During her career, she helped lead Virginia to three straight ACC titles and four NCAA appearances, including national runner-up finishes in 2005 and 2007.
McBrearty earned All-America honors in 2008, the year she was led the ACC in goals against average (7.25) and save percentage (.502), ranking fourth and ninth nationally, respectively. She currently rank eighth in UVa's career records for saves (331) and ninth for goals against average (7.60).
"Who played well together, worked well and competed on a consistent basis?" Fried asked. "It was a competitive tryout, the most competitive I've seen in my four years here... We had some hard decisions to make, in a good way, and we feel lucky to have the group that we have for this year."
While McBrearty has stayed close to the game since graduating from Virginia, working with goalied, she has also been busy with other aspects of her life. She is currently training in the police academy in Charlottesville.
Fried says that the 2010-2011 Team USA will likely form the core team that represents the U.S. in the 2013 World Cup. The location and dates of the 2013 FIL World Championship have not yet been announced by the Federation of International Lacrosse. In 2009, Team USA won the gold, beating Australia 8-7 in Prague, Czech Republic. The U.S. women's senior team has won either gold or silver in all seven world championships conducted since 1986.