UNITED THEY STAND: Johns Hopkins freshman Tim Donovan (above), a Loyola High graduate, was among four different players who scored three goals in Sunday's exhibition victory over the Northwest All-Stars in Seattle. Donovan and the U.S. Men's Under-19 Team will begin defense of the International Lacrosse Federation Tournament title on Thursday in Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada.
Note: Tim Donovan is a 6-foot-3, 220-pound freshman at Johns Hopkins University with a winning reputation.
As a senior at Loyola, Donovan was a receiver and corner back on the Dons' Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference title-winning football team that went a school-record 10-1 in the fall of 2006.
In the spring of 2007, Donovan earned All-Metro honors and was the C. Markland Kelly finalist for the Dons' MIAA A Conference championship lacrosse team.
And as a freshman for Johns' Hopkins, he was a member of that program's NCAA runner-up mens lacrosse team.
Donovan's talents have earned him a berth on the U.S. Under-19 lacrosse team which will compete in the upcoming World Games in Vancouver.
As a member of the team, Donovan has been providing his personal experiences to DigitalSports.
That will continue as the U.S. Team next plays in the July 3-through-July 12, International Lacrosse Federation Tournament to be held starting this Thursday in Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada.
Below, Donovan recounts the U.S. Team's fifth exhibition game played last weekend against local All-Stars at Mercer Island High School in Seattle, Washington.
By Tim Donovan
as told to DigitalSports
(SEE VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS , INTERVIEWS BELOW OF U.S.A. WIN OVER POTOMAC ALL-STARS AT GEORGETOWN PREP)
Click here for Donovan's first report
Click here for Donovan's second report
Click here for Donovan's third report
Click here for Donovan's fourth report
Excruciating.
That's how best to describe the nearly six hour, cross-country flight from Baltimore to Seattle, Washington, endured by my teammates and I who are representing the United States on the Under-19 Team.
We arrived at The University of Washington on Friday, checked into the dorms, and began our four-night stay in preparation for Sunday's game.
My roommate, after a very hard and thorough selection process, wound up being Craig Dowd from Georgetown University. Dowd was the next name on the list, alphabetically, to mine.
After an orientation process, we moved our gear into our rooms. A fairly intense practice followed on the university's practice fields, during which we sort of got back into the groove we had settled into over the previous weekend's victories over the teams we played in Philadelphia and Rockville, Maryland.
You could see, though, that our chemistry's still there, despite our having to adjust to the fact that Seattle's time zone is three hours behind Maryland's and the East Coast.
Practice, for example, was over at 9 p.m., Pacific time, which meant some of us were a little sluggish and moving slower than usual since it felt as if it was midnight -- the time it was on the East Coast.
After that, we got some much-needed sleep to rest up for a double-session of lacrosse the next day, for which we were to rise at 7:30 a.m.
Saturday was packed with two lacrosse practices. The day began with the early morning wake up, followed by a clinic for local kids from third through eighth grade at Mercer Island high school -- site of our fifth and final exhibition game of the summer before the July 3, World Games in Canada.
On Sunday, we matched up against the Northwest All-stars, who are a compilation of college players from the Seattle area. We did what we were supposed to. We beat them handily.
Similar to the previous weekend, almost everyone contributed to the scoring.
Dean Gibbons (Harvard), Andrew Feinberg (Brown), Craig Dowd (Georgetown), and myself all had hat-tricks in the effort, with the other goals coming from almost everyone on the team.
We're starting to feel like a team, and everyone's excited about the way we're playing.
After the game we were allowed to go into the city of Seattle, where we walked around seeing the sights and getting a taste of the city in general.
We saw Quest Field, where the Seahawks play. We saw Safeco Field, where the Mariners play. We toured the Space Needle, which is restaurant that's suspended high above the city, giving you a panoramic view of Seattle.
On Monday, it was back to practice, this time, at 8:30 a.m.
Some of our coaches, later on, were able to go up and scout the Canadian team a little bit in British Columbia.
After practice, team members went swimming in a lake in Seattle.
It was a very beautiful place to swim, but then came an unexpected and somewhat harrowing surprise.
A few of us were swimming out to a floating platform where there were two diving boards, when some of us noticed a young kid -- who looked to be about 10 or 11 years old -- who appeared to be struggling to swim out to the platform.
The boy screamed for help, after which a plethora of United States athletes responded by diving into the water.
Freshmen Ryan Young (Maryland), Joel White (Syracuse), Jack McBride (Princeton) and Coach Tim Flynn (Mountain Lakes, N.J.) were among those who came to the boy's rescue, calming him until a lifeguard could bring him safely to shore.
On Monday night, we were scheduled to go to a Seattle Mariners game where they take on the Blue Jays from Toronto. After that, we again have some free time to explore the city of Seattle.
On Tuesday, we'll leave the United States and cross into Vancouver, where we'll stay for two weeks in the hopes of retaining the nation's International Lacrosse Federation Under-19 World Championships crown.
We feel as if we've come together as a team. We're ready to go. We're a cohesive unit ready to add to the United States' 29-0 record in the tournament.
Team USA's International Lacrosse Federation
Under-19 World Championships Schedule
(All games in Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada)
July 3 Iroquois Nationals, 4 p.m.
July 4 Austrailia, 4 p.m.
July 5 Japan, 9:30 a.m.
July 6 Canada, 4 p.m.
July 7 England, 12:45 p.m.
July 10 Semifinals, 4 p.m. and 7:15 p.m.
July 12 Championship game, 2:30 p.m.
Follow Team USA on the web at www.uslacross.org/teamusa08 or laxmagazine.com