Mount Greylock's Sheedy Helps Team USA Win Lacrosse Tourney

TAMPA, Fla. -- Mount Greylock sophomore Clare Sheedy this month helped Team USA win the 2016 Brogden Cup International Lacrosse Tournament.

 

The event, sponsored by equipment manufacturer Brine, pits teams from the United States and Canada. This is the first year girls have competed in the event.

 

Sheedy, who played for the Pittsfield-Taconic co-op team last spring as a freshman, said she was proud to represent her country on one of the sport’s biggest stages.

 

“It was super exciting,” she said in an article on the website Toplaxrecruits.com. “It was such an honor to represent the United States of America. It was a amazing opportunity and I’m so blessed that I was a part of it. The fact that I can say I played for a USA team, and we are the champions of the inaugural tournament doesn’t even feel real. We made history and no one can take that away from any of us.

 

“Our main goal was to win the Cup. No one wanted to lose on our home turf and everyone quickly decided we represented more than just us. The name on our jersey was much bigger than who we are, and we wanted to prove we deserved to be there.”

 

Sheedy scored twice in the first game of the three-game tournament, held Dec. 30 to Jan. 1 at the University of Tampa, and had an assist in Game 2, a double-overtime victory for the Americans. Team USA came back to win the decisive third game, 7-5.

 

Sheedy said the Canadians presented a big challenge to Team USA.

 

“USA quickly realized they were a talented team,” she said. “Our defense really had to play smart and use their feet or they’d get a call. Canada was very physical and after the first game, our team really had to adjust how we cradled and our passes.

 

“We had to experiment new ways to try to win the draw because that was one of Canada’s dominant advantages on us. Overall Canada made us play smart, which led to our success at Brogden.”