Aug. 12, 2009
EVANSTON, Ill. -- A trio of Wildcat sophomores have been named to the 2009-10 U.S. Developmental team after a two-day tryout at UMBC in Baltimore. Attacker Shannon Smith (West Babylon, N.Y./West Babylon), midfielder Alexandra Frank (Westwood, Mass./Westwood) and defender Lacey Vigmostad (Northport, N.Y./Northport) were among the 24 players named to the roster.
All three are coming off an impressive freshman campaign in Evanston, as all three played key roles in helping the Wildcats to a perfect 23-0 record and their fifth-straight championship. NU is one of three teams to place three players on the roster, with national runner-up North Carolina and Boston University the other two.
Smith started all 23 games of her freshman season, ranking fifth on the team with 33 goals while adding five assists. She tied a career-best with four goals in the American Lacrosse Conference championship at Penn State en route to being named to the ALC all-tournament team. Smith was previously a U.S. Under-19 team member.
Frank saw action in every game in 2009, notching 17 starts. She scored 10 goals and added four assists, but was a major threat for the Wildcats on the draw. Frank's 63 draw controls was second on the team and was the seventh-best single-season performance in the program's history, helping pace the 'Cats to a nation's best 16.91 draws per game. Frank was a second-team All-ALC selection and was named to the ALC Championship all-tournament team.
Vigmostad was one of the constants on defense for Northwestern, starting all 23 games in 2009. She was part of a defensive unit which allowed just 6.83 goals per game, ranking second in the nation, and was named the conference's Defender of the Week on April 27. Vigmostad also contributed on offense when needed, adding a pair of goals. All three were named to the Womenslacrosse.com All-Rookie team.
Team USA debuts Oct. 11 at the fourth-annual US Lacrosse Stars and Stripes event. The newly-named Developmental team and gold medal-winning U.S. World Cup team will play North Carolina and James Madison at St. Stephen's & St. Agnes school in Alexandria, Va.
2009-10 U.S. Developmental Team
Attackers
Jillian Byers - Notre Dame
Rachel Culp - Virginia Tech
McKinley Curro - Boston University
Jackie Lyons - Massachusetts
Shannon Smith - Northwestern
Midfielders
Kelly Berger - James Madison
Sarah Dalton - Boston University
Christina Dove - Syracuse
Alexandra Frank - Northwestern
Corrine Gandolfi - Hofstra
Mallory Poole - C.W. Post
Jennifer Russell - North Carolina
Lauren Schmidt - Stanford
Lauren Schwarzmann - Johns Hopkins
Defenders
Becky Clipp - Maryland
Angela Hughes - Johns Hopkins
Kelly Munroe - Boston University
Colleen Olsen - Dartmouth
Lacey Vigmostad - Northwestern
Kristen Carr - North Carolina
Katy Fitzgerald - North Carolina
Goalkeepers
Kendall McBreaty - Virginia
Julie Wadland - Dartmouth
Natalie Wills - Vanderbilt