SPARKS, Md. — North Carolina’s 2013 national championship came in epic fashion — a 13-12 three-overtime win over an undefeated Maryland squad that featured six future World Cup champions in the lineup.

Kara Cannizzaro was the tournament’s most outstanding player, Sammy Jo Tracy scored the game-winning goal for the Tar Heels and Megan Ward made three huge saves in overtime. However, the box score won’t reveal one of the key pieces of that championship.

One of the few seniors on the team, Emily Parros (then Garrity), provided the leadership — encouraging her teammates, but also demanding that they do their jobs.

“I don’t even know if Emily scored a point in that game (she didn’t),” UNC coach Jenny Levy said. “I don’t know if she picked up a draw control (she had one), but I know she led us in that way.”

So when Levy was named the head coach of the U.S. women’s national team, one of her first calls was to one of the best leaders she’s ever been around. Parros had played for the U.S. team for a year after graduating from North Carolina, but then got cut.

“I said, ‘I’d really like you to come back out for this team. I’m telling you you’re great. You still have it in you to play at a really high level,’” Levy recalled.

“I was shocked, honestly,” Parros said.

Parros had resumed her career playing first in the United Women’s Lacrosse League, and now in the Women’s Professional Lacrosse League with the Brave. But she thought her U.S. team chances were over.

“I had kind of come to terms that I got cut and, at that age, there’s nothing else for you to pursue,” Parros said. “Then the pro league came, and a new coaching staff and a new way of doing it for the U.S. team. Jenny called me, and of course I said yes. Who doesn’t want to play at the top level of lacrosse?”

Parros made her debut at the 2018 Fall Classic and has participated in every U.S. team training event since. An assistant coach at East Carolina, she provides the smarts, hustle and unselfishness needed in the middle of the field.
 

She was a prolific scorer in high school with more than 600 points in her career at Strath Haven (Pa.), where her mom, Margie, was the coach. But it wasn’t offense that got her on the field when she went to North Carolina.

“Her best play was on the defensive end, always making plays in the middle of the field, always creating fast breaks,” Levy said. “Offensively – unselfish. She didn’t care if she had a point, always made the right play. She’s just one of those kids who’s so easy to coach, because she did the easy things well and never complicated the game for anyone else around her.”

“Going from high school, having all those records and everything, I thought that that was going to be my role in college,” Parros said. “As a freshman, when you start, you realize you’re not the person they’re going to. There are other people who have earned that right. I learned that everything I do off ball matters for them. I learned that was my way on the field. That was my way to contribute to the team. I found a lot of satisfaction in it. I don’t need the glory. I just want to win. It doesn’t matter if I score or if one of my teammates score. We still win.

Winning means something to Parros.

An ESPN story from her high school days famously tells the tale of racing her brother home off the school bus every day. She lost every time until one time, at their mother’s urging, he let her win. That made her even angrier.

When Parros got to college, the team ran a distance race as part of fall training. Levy could see the irritation in Parros’ face when she got beat by her teammates. It pushed her, and by the end of the fall, she won the race. She simply hates to lose.

“During that time, she’d shared with me in high school they never won a championship,” Levy said. “She said, ‘I’m always the first-place loser.’”

That thought was near and dear to Levy’s heart during one of the biggest moments of her own professional career. As North Carolina played Maryland in that 2013 NCAA game, Levy was trying to win her own first national title. But in the back of her mind, she had one thought that lingered in her mind: “Please do not let Emily Garrity go out the first-place loser.”

The championship came, and now they both have their sights on another title. US Lacrosse will host the World Lacrosse Women’s Championship in 2021 at Towson University, a little over two years out from this week’s training camp.

Levy has the challenging task of finding the right mix of 18 players from an incredibly talented pool of players. Fifty-seven different players have already worn Team USA gear in the four training events since Levy took over the program.

“It’s incredible,” Parros said. “There’s so few people that can say they’ve played on a U.S. national team. Hopefully, I keep making the team and getting called back to make it to a World Cup.”

The competitor loves playing at the highest level, but she also cherishes the ability to put on a U.S. uniform.

“Realizing the impact you have as a player with USA on your chest, every little girl is looking up to you and what you do on and off the field,” Parros said. “Everything you post on social media, these kids are dying to be in your shoes and I think that’s such a special opportunity for us as a whole. Being a coach, I want to inspire the next generation. I want to help them be better than I was.”

Garrett Shines in Final U.S. Scrimmage

Molly Garrett, who just finished her junior season at the University of Michigan, had quite a debut with the U.S. national team program. The midfielder out of Florida scored four goals to help lead the Blue team to a 13-11 win over the White team in an intrasquad scrimmage to close a three-day training camp at US Lacrosse headquarters featuring 36 of the top players in the world.

After Sam Apuzzo scored early in the third quarter for the White team to tie the game 6-6, Garrett scored back-to-back goals to ignite a six-goal run that gave her team a 12-6 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Spurred by Taylor Cummings on the draw, the White team made a comeback, scoring four straight goals in a span of just over three minutes to get within 13-11 with 2:02 remaining in the game, but Zoe Stukenberg secured the next draw for the Blue team and they effectively used the stall to run out the clock for the victory.

Katrina Dowd had a game-high five points on three goals and two assists to lead the Blue attack and Kylie Ohlmiller had two goals and an assist. Gussie Johns made five saves while allowing just three goals in two quarters of action to secure the victory.

Apuzzo led the White team with four goals while Marie McCool and Kayla Treanor each scored twice. Cummings had a goal and two assists.