USA's Kori Edmondson Right at Home in Red, White and Blue

AUBURNDALE, Fla. – Kori Edmondson always knew she was going to be busy this week, but spending extra time on a lacrosse field is a bonus she’s not taking for granted. She’ll be the maid of honor for her older sister’s wedding next week, but any wedding planning activities have been put on hold after Edmondson was added to the U.S. team’s roster for the Pan-American Women’s Lacrosse Championship.

The U.S. is off to a 3-0 start and will meet the Haudenosaunee on Sunday in the semifinals at 10 a.m. on World Lacrosse TV. A win would send them to Monday’s championship game.

• Game Story: USA 25, Mexico 2

Sports run deep in her family, so her sister, Logan, a former Maryland field hockey player and a lacrosse coach at the club level, certainly understands.

“Once I get home, I’ll start to settle in a little bit,” Edmondson said. “My sister’s out in Vail now coaching, ironically, so she’s kind of ‘everything will be fine and will fall into place.’”

Edmondson has long been a part of the U.S. national team program. She was on the inaugural USA Select U15 team in 2019 and then earned a spot on the U18 team in 2021 through the National Team Development Program. Last summer she won a gold medal with the U.S. U20 team at the World Lacrosse championship in Hong Kong, China.

She got another chance at the U.S. program during a training camp earlier this summer to earn a spot on the Pan-American championship roster. Except this time, she didn’t get the call she wanted. She was not named to the 22-player roster.

“It was definitely not easy. It was definitely tough,” Edmondson said.

But only a week later, Edmondson got a call from head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein, offering her chance to play after a spot opened up.

“When I got the second call, I was actually running, and I was like ‘absolutely,’ Edmondson said. “It was such a wave of emotions. I grieved it and settled with it and then it was like oh my goodness, I have to get a stick in my hand. Let’s go.”

“It was such a fun call because they usually cry because they’re sad,” Walker-Weinstein said of having to make roster cuts. “She cried because she was happy, which made me emotional. I respect her and love her as a player, so it’s been fun having her here.”

Edmondson was the Big Ten Midfielder of the Year at Maryland this spring after leading the Terps with 59 goals. But it’s her versatility that earned her a spot on the U.S. U20 team last summer and again this year with the senior team. In both cases, she’s had to play more of a defensive role than what Maryland needs her to do.

“I think she’s put herself in a position to be here through her athleticism and willingness to learn,” Walker-Weinstein said. “I already think she’s gotten way better defensively than she was even at our June camp. That was a big goal for her. I think she’s just an insane athlete that kind of plays a little bit of everything. She’s a utility – you can put her on the draw, she can score goals, she can make stops, she can run for days. I just think she embodies a lot of the USA qualities.”

Maryland has had a long history of association with the U.S. national team – in fact, each of the previous 11 World Cup teams dating back to 1982 have had at least one Terp on the roster, including Walker-Weinstein in 2009 – but Edmondson is the only Maryland player currently active in the national team player pool.

She doesn’t feel pressure to carry the legacy, but rather support from the Maryland network.

“I always remember where I came from, knowing that I have a whole bunch of Terp alums supporting me through it all,” Edmondson said. “They always text me and they’re always checking on me. Alex Aust (a gold medalist with the 2017 U.S. team) has really helped me through a lot of this and eased my nerves. When I found out I didn’t make it, she was like, ‘It’s okay, you’re in the system still. It’s not over.’ Having her help me understand the process and really just take a deep breath and live in the moment (was a big help). Not making it, making it, being present right now is my biggest focus.”

With another year at Maryland remaining, Edmondson is also looking to take this opportunity as a chance to keep getting better.

“We learn and pick each other’s brains a little bit and you can take a little bit of that stuff back to college,” Edmondson said. “Learning is different – tactics and how we play here. It’s really awesome to implement it into the college game. My coach even said, ‘Whatever you learn, bring it back. We’re very open to it.’ It’s super nice just to hear from different people, like a Sam Apuzzo and a Charlotte North who I grew up watching. Being on the same team as them is just something I can’t even think of.”

But she’s here now, and hoping that her showing this week will be a first step in ultimately making the roster that will head to Japan for the 2026 World Lacrosse Women’s Championship. Her trip to Asia last summer with the U20 team has made her all the more hungry to keep getting those experiences.

“It was surreal,” Edmondson said. “Just being able to put the jersey on in a different country was just something I can’t even describe. I say it all the time when people ask me – I’ll never take for granted being able to travel to a different country – to get to play lacrosse and share the game was such an unreal experience. I wish everyone had the opportunity to do and only some can, but it’s something I’ll never forget.”