Maryland field hockey’s Linnea Gonzales, Anna Dessoye to compete in Pan-American Games

Two former Maryland field hockey players have been named to the USA Field Hockey team for the Pan-American Games, with a third serving as an alternate.

Anna Dessoye (‘15) and Linnea Gonzales (‘18) were named to the 16-player roster for the tournament, which will be played from July 29 to Aug. 10 in Lima, Peru. Alyssa Parker (‘15) has been named an alternate as well.

The U.S. has the No. 13-ranked team in the world, and it was placed in Pool B alongside Chile (No. 15), Mexico (29) and Peru (38). In Pool A, No. 3-ranked Argentina leads the way against Canada (18), Uruguay (25) and Cuba (63).

This is the sixth iteration of the Pan-Am Games, which have occurred every four years beginning in 1999. Argentina won the first three tournaments over the U.S. in the Gold Medal game, but the tides have turned in the last two, with the latter earning first place in 2011 and 2015.

Gonzalez and Dessoye were prolific in their Maryland careers, scoring 44 and 38 goals, respectively, throughout their four years in College Park. They only overlapped for one season in 2015, as the team finished with a 19-4 record and won the Big Ten regular season and tournament titles before being bounced in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Parker added a pair of goals for that squad, finishing with 24 goals for her career.

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