HANNOVER, Germany- Mercyhurst College women's lacrosse player Samantha Cock participated in the Under-19 (U19) Women's Lacrosse World Championship for Team Canada. Cock helped Canada to a bronze medal at the event, as she played in each match. The Canadian team beat England 14-5 in the bronze medal game, while Team USA defeated Australia in the gold medal contest. For more information, click here, here, and here.
Cock, coming off her freshman season at Mercyhurst, blogged about the event and her stay in Hannover, Germany.

July 31/August 1-
We all arrived at the airport for our 11 p.m. flight to Amsterdam, which would take about 7 hours, so lucky me I got to sleep for a long time-so long that I slept through both meals that were provided on the plane. We then spent 4 hours in the Amsterdam airport waiting for our connecting flight to Hannover, Germany. Ordering food in the airport was a struggle because you pretty much eat at whatever food vendor could speak English, so you can't be picky. Our flight to Hannover only lasted about 40 minutes which was nice, and thankfully none of our luggage got lost, although many of our parents lost theirs. Once we arrived at the hotel, we decorated our hall, which we share with Whales. We all passed out hard.

August 2-
We had our exhibition game against the Aussies before the tournament starts. We came in to the game knowing that the Australian team has always come second in every World Cup. Neither team did any of their plays we mostly just did freelance things. The game was very back and forth until we ended up taking a few goal lead midway through the second but allowed them to crawl back to end in a 9-9 tie. This game gave use great confidence knowing that we could tie the team that was in the gold medal game every World Cup. Here at the World Cup we have a good feeling that we will make history in being the first team Canada team to make the gold medal game. It is also great to talk to the players from different countries and see how their experiences are, I have brought lots of things to trade with other players I already have my eye on a Team Australia back pack.

August 3-
Today we had the opening ceremonies, which were pretty short to be honest. There are only 12 teams participating in the World Cup and it was nice to hear all their different national anthems, although I did not understand many of them. Our fans were very loud as always just so happy to be there. We then had a practice right after the opening ceremonies to work out all the kinks in our plays and get ready for tournament play that starts tomorrow. The weather here is actually quite warm in the afternoon and night which isn't so nice when you in a room with no AC. After practice we came back to the hotel for food that is not so good, the Germans food taste much different than what I am used to at home, and it is hard enough to figure out what the name of the food you are eating because the word had 26 letters in it.

August 4-
Today we played the Six Nations team called Haudenosaunee. Some of the players I have already met because this team is made up of both American and Canadian first nations girls. We played mostly offence in this game working out our plays in their end. They don't have many girls but the ones that they had great stick skills. The game ended in a win for us, 21 -1. The best part was hearing our national anthem for the first time in front of all the fans, Team Canada by far has the biggest and loudest crowd at World Cup. I'm so proud of all the dedicated parents, siblings, and friends that made the flight over here. The whole experience is too much to take in right now-just being able to meet all these athletes from 12 different countries. It so surreal. Everyone is getting to know each other and making friends with people you never knew you would and being able to go on this adventure with the 18 best friends I could have!

August 5-
Today, we played Team USA. I know many of the people reading my blog will probably be American thus cheering against me but we still did well. The game ended in a 13-6 loss for us. However, for the first half of the game it was very back and forth we held our own against the team that has won every gold medal at the u-19 worlds. They are a very skilled team and very athletic, we had some great scoring opportunities but we just couldn't find the back of the net. We will have our chance against the US again before the end of the tournament so we are hopeful to come out on top.

August 6-
Yesterday, we competed against our rival team, England, and it was a very heated game. England is very fast in the midfield and they used their speed to their advantage. It was a very back-and-forth game, with England winning by 3 after 30 minutes of play. At halftime, the weather started to take its toll, and it started to rain very heavily and the sight of lightning postponed our game another 30 minutes. This allowed us to gather in our dressing room and get our heads together, which for us is blasting some beats and dancing around the room getting pumped up and loosening our bodies. The rain had put a little damper on things and we were worried about how our traction on the wet grass would fare with our turfs. Thankfully during our jam partying in the locker room our manager Terry came to the rescue with new cleats flown over from the U.S. After our 30-minute break, the lightning and rain subsided and we took the field once again, with our new found confidence, to finish the second half of our match. We came out as a different team ready to kick some butt. We were all over the draw controls and 50/50 balls and this gave us the upper hand and gave us the ball for most of the half. We ran our plays perfectly and had England looking frantic when we found ourselves up by 3 goals, they then began to pressure hard for they had nothing to lose they were already down 3 goals but we kept our composure and held the ball till time ran to zero! We were so ecstatic we ran to our goalie Katie Donahoe and jumped on her. We were all so pumped we beat our rivals we couldn't stop yelling and jumping up and down! After the game on our way back to the hotel we jammed out to “We will rock you”, and once we arrived we saw all the other teams hanging out their windows to see what all the shouting was about. It was just us screaming at the top of our lungs because we were so pumped after beating the team that took bronze last World Cup. Tomorrow, we face another tough game against the Aussies who we had tied 9-9 in a previous exhibition game.

August 7-
Today, we competed against the Aussies once again. I feel that both teams didn't play to the best of their abilities but it was a very close game regardless. The refs on the other hand were not very helpful when it came to the calls. This is what made our team very frustrated; this frustration led to a breakdown in play and didn't let us come up with a win. Although we lost to the Aussies, I feel that as a team we have grown and the next time if we should meet them again, we will come out on top. Tomorrow is our off day; this will allow us to recover, practice and get ready for our game against Japan on Tuesday. This match should be a good one because the Japanese are known for their great speed, so we will have our work cut out for us to keep up with them.

August 9-
Today, we played our last round robin game against the Japanese. This team came to the tournament and surprised everyone with their hard work and determination. it was a pleasure playing them. Hardly any of the girls spoke English so it was hard to communicate. We had to use lots of hand signals. We got up with a 3-goal lead but then began to slow down compared to the speedy Japanese players. We allowed them to crawl back and have the game tied at half, but at the beginning of the second half, it began to rain and we play the best in the rain. We began to slowly pull away with a good lead. It started with some great saves from our goalie, all the way to great plays that were run in the offense. This was an important game for us; if we lost we would play England in the quarterfinals and then if we won U.S.A. in the semis, but since we won we play the six nations team and then the Aussies which will give us a better shot at the gold medal game. Tomorrow will be our quarterfinal game against the six nations.


August 10-
Today, we competed in the quarterfinal game against the six nations team. It was a very cold game and the weather was not very friendly. We didn't have the best start and let the other team get the better of us. We were only up 4-2 when our coach called a timeout and told us to pick up the pace-to put it nicely. Our stick skills were lacking in this game and we will need to check ourselves before the semifinal game if we want to win. The end score was a high one, 20-5, however we didn't play to what the score says. We have an off day tomorrow and we plan to practice in the morning to prepare for the game against the winner between the Aussies and Wales. The better seeded team is the Aussies and we know the third time is a charm when we play them in semis, during our round robin play we had 5 yellow cards meaning we played a man down for 10 minutes and we only lost by 2 goals. if we keep our composure and play with heart and brains, I know we can pull out an upset win!

August 12-
Today's game was roller coaster for sure. We were playing in the semi-finals against the Aussies again. The game was set for 3:30, and we knew we needed to come out strong. That did not happen. I don't know why, but a series of mishaps and mistakes saw us losing 4-0 in the first 5 minutes!! Then, lightning and thunder started and the rain came in buckets. The game was suspended due to the storm and would resume when the weather had been calm for at least 30 minutes. Well, after the weather broke, the officials said that the field was in no condition to play, so they suspended it until 8:30 that night!! As if playing in the semi-finals wasn't stressful enough.
The game started back up in the evening but the score started the same as we left off, so we were down huge to start. We came out slow again and couldn't seem to win any of the draws, so the Aussies always had possession. We were down 11-3 at the end of the first half. We woke up and made a huge charge back in the second and outscored them 7-3, but it was too late and the goals from earlier in the day came back to haunt us and we lost 14-10. If we could only play a full 60 like we played the second half... It was devastating to have our chance at gold slip away and I am not sure I will get over it soon. We play England tomorrow for a chance at a bronze medal, so we can only look ahead to that. Look forward to a bronze and some Harry Potter, British style!

August 13-
Today was our final bronze medal game against England. The last time we played against them, it was a very heated match with us coming out with a win. In the game today, we were so pumped to be in a medal game and we just wanted to do Canada proud and when that first draw went up, we never looked back. We dominated the English team, our team chemistry was incredible-if only we had of come out that strong against the Aussies. We worked our butts off for this bronze medal that I still proudly walk around wearing everyday! This experience was the best of my life and I got to do it with the best 18 girls I could ever ask for-love them all!