Geographic Spread of Lacrosse on Display at National Tournament

BROCKPORT, N.Y. – On the 100th year anniversary of women’s lacrosse in the United States, the annual USA Lacrosse Women’s National Tournament is an example of how far the sport has come. Players coming from high schools in 27 states and the District of Columbia descended to SUNY Brockport to compete at this year’s event, which has been around for almost the entire time women’s lacrosse has been played in the USA.

First played in 1933, this historic event has involved into a recruiting showcase for talented high school girls from all over the country.

Saturday’s weather of steady rain, temps dipping below 50 and gusting winds was just one more challenge in an event that uniquely tests the players. Unlike their high school and club teams, the regional teams are often made up of players just meeting each other and they have had limited, if any, practice time together. They may be playing new roles and learning to play with new teammates, which gives college coaches and evaluators a valuable chance to see how they adapt to new environments.

Emily Hawryschuk, a past participant in this event, gold medalist with the 2024 U.S. women’s box lacrosse team and current Women’s Lacrosse League player, was on hand at the Gait Lacrosse booth, providing an example of what could lay ahead for these players. 

But the event is about more than individual goals. It’s also about pride in where they come from.

Few, if any recruiting events, have this wide of a geographic spread. It’s a measuring stick for the developing regions – and a chance to display what they can do.

“This is a great opportunity for Utah to show the growth of lacrosse in our state,” said Utah coach Krista Call. “Being able to play outside of Utah is a great experience for our girls. We see a more physical style of play here, which helps because most of these girls have aspirations to play in college.”

The Utah contingent had a strong opening day, winning all three games in their pool in the Sea Division, one of three 10-team divisions in the tournament. Utah beat Western New York Rochester in its opener, Kentucky in its second game and then an undefeated Tennessee team in its final game of the day.

Utah’s players came from over 2,000 miles away, but one of their opponents had a much shorter trip – the local team from the Western New York/Rochester area.

“A lot of our girls are still in postseason with their high school teams, so this is a tough time of year for them,” said WNY Rochester coach Cat Vandenberg. “But it’s still fun for them to come here and play against kids they don’t otherwise see. This is a chill environment for them to just play some fun lacrosse.”

Vandenberg noted that the quality of play, despite rainy weather conditions, is impressive.

“It’s so great to see how much better lacrosse has become in some places over the past five years,” she said. “Utah played a great game. We also played Connecticut earlier and they are a phenomenal team. It’s fun to see how far lacrosse has come in a short amount of time.”

Utah was one of nine teams to go undefeated on Saturday, including all four teams representing the Massachusetts/Rhode Island region. The Mass/RI region has been dominant at the event in recent years, winning the championship in the top flight in five of the past seven years and three division championships overall last year.

Pool play continues on Sunday morning with the championship games in the Air, Land and Sea Divisions all scheduled for 1:15 pm on Sunday afternoon.

• Complete results and Sunday’s schedule

This year’s USA Lacrosse Women’s National Tournament event sponsors include Capelli Sport, Gait Lacrosse, Go Live Sports (USA Lacrosse TV), Halpern Travel, Lacrosse Specialties, NCSA, Rochester Sports Commission, SportsEngine and Sports Recruits.

— Paul Ohanian contributed to this report