PALO ALTO, Calif.—University of Colorado assistant women’s lacrosse coach Hannah Nielsen, widely regarded as one of the top players in the world, will help lead the Australian National Team in a game against the United States on Sunday at 11 a.m. MT.
The two women’s lacrosse powers renew one of the sport’s top rivalries for the first time in three years, since the final of the 2009 FIL Women’s World Cup in Prague, which the U.S. team won 8-7. Australia defeated the U.S. in the 2005 Women’s World Cup final, 14-7.
The 11th annual U.S. Lacrosse Stars & Stripes event will be held at Stanford University starting last Wednesday and culminating in the marquee match-up between the Aussies and Americans. The game will be aired live on ESPN3.com and set the stage for the 2013 FIL Women’s World Cup, set for Oshawa, Canada, July 11-20, 2013.
CU head coach Ann Elliott added Nielsen to her first staff in June after the two were teammates and player-coach for Northwestern University. Nielsen helped the Wildcats to four NCAA Championships and a combined 85-3 record in her four seasons and is still the NCAA’s all-time assist leader and was twice the Tewaaraton Trophy winner in 2008 and ’09.
The Buffaloes officially added lacrosse as the school’s 17th sport in February and Elliott was hired in March. The team will officially begin play in the spring of 2014.
