Devon Wills '06 and Whitney Douthett '07, who led the Dartmouth women's lacrosse team to two NCAA Final Four appearances, helped the United States win the 2009 Lacrosse World Cup Championship with an 8-7 victory over Australia Saturday in Prague.
Goalie Wills earned the Most Valuable Player award for her performance.
Wills won game honors after only giving up four goals to the Australians and making eight saves.
"Wills is a difference-maker for the U.S. team," said Dartmouth women's lacrosse coach Amy Patton. "She's probably one of the best lacrosse goalies in the world she's great in the cage but so athletic she could probably play the field as well, which adds a whole other dimension for her team."
Douthett, a midfielder, caught three ground balls in the game.
"Whitney is someone you want on the field because she does all the little things that make a big difference," Patton said. "She's a fantastic player but really humble, and she's willing to do all the grunt work."
Although Team USA led early in the game, Australia evened the score to 3-3 by halftime. The Americans quickly scored three goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half, while Australia was only able to net one.
The U.S. maintained a substantial lead almost until the end of the game, when Wills was given a yellow card with five minutes remaining.
With Team USA leading 8-4, Wills came out of the goal cage and crashed into a member of the Australian team. She was benched for a three minute penalty, during which time the Australians scored their final three goals on her substitute.
With 1:45 remaining, Wills returned to the game. She then managed to block a point-blank shot from an Australian forward, held onto the ball and then passed it downfield, allowing Team USA to maintain their 8-7 lead for the remaining minute.
The Americans and Australians are the elite national teams in women's lacrosse. Team USA won the World Cup, which is held every four years, from 1989-2001, but lost to Australia in 2005.
At Dartmouth, Douthett was captain of the lacrosse team and led the team in scoring, in addition to playing on the women's soccer team, according to the Dartmouth athletic department's web site. After graduation, she played on the American developmental team before working her way up to the national team.
During her time at the College, Wills was an All-American goalkeeper, earned first-team All-Ivy honors three years and second-team honors once. She also helped lead Dartmouth to a second place finish in the 2006 NCAA Championship, according to the web site.
Wills was voted second-team All-American in 2004, 2005 and 2006, ranks second in College history with 538 saves and started 70 of a possible 71 games while at Dartmouth.
After graduating, Wills worked for the College as an assistant coach.
The United States reached the championship game after beating England 20-3 in semifinals and Ireland 22-5 in quarterfinals. Australia defeated Canada 12-10 and Japan 18-12 in their respective semifinal and quarterfinal rounds.
Neither Douthett nor Wills could be reached for comment.
