AMHERST, Mass. — The plan was solid for the Washington state team competing at the USA Lacrosse Women’s National Tournament. Fly across the country on Thursday, settle in and watch the semifinals of the NCAA Division I Women’s Lacrosse Championship on Friday in Foxborough, Mass., and then get ready to play on Saturday morning in their own games.
But the best of plans sometimes go awry.
Flight delays persisted and they didn’t arrive at Boston’s Logan Airport until around midnight on Friday night. By the time they settled into their hotels in Amherst, it was nearly three in the morning on Saturday. Even with some shuffling of the schedule, their first game would be in about nine hours.
You wouldn’t have known it by their play. Fueled by adrenaline, Washington won all three games on Saturday and will meet Massachusetts/Rhode Island 1 in the championship game of the top flight (Red Division) for the second consecutive year.
It’s not an accident. This tournament means something to them.
“They play really unselfish and set each other up,” said coach Hilary Bowen O’Dougherty, a four-time national champion at Northwestern who played in this tournament herself, representing New York in 2004. “I think they play with a little chip on their shoulder – a little bit of we’re representing Washington. We want people to know we have strong players and teams out here.”
Coach Megan Lucchesi also played in this tournament a decade ago, representing her home state of Washington.
“My freshman year playing in the tournament, that was my first time back East,” Lucchesi said. “I remember it hits you in the face. Coming to this tournament, it was like here we go, I’m here. That has never left Washington lacrosse. We’re gritty, we’re ready to be here and we want to make a name for ourselves.”
That battle cry is pretty much true of all the 45 teams competing in the 92nd annual rendition of this event. This year's tournament has players from 28 states and the District of Columbia.
No region flexed more on Saturday than the home state players from the Massachusetts/Rhode Island region. The region has won the top flight of this tournament in four of the last six years and all four Mass/RI teams in this year’s tournament reached the championship game of the their respective regions.
But it’s not just regional pride on the line, for many of these players this is one of the first steps of pursuing the dream of playing college lacrosse. And competing for a national championship. Northwestern, which will play North Carolina for the NCAA championship tomorrow, has a roster littered with players that have competed at the USA Lacrosse National Tournament – Jane Hansen (Massachusetts/Rhode Island), Hannah Rudolph (DC Metro) and Alexis Ventresca (Philly) among them.
Massachusetts native Madison Ahern played in this event twice – winning it once with Mass/Rhode Island before beginning her career at Notre Dame, playing with the U.S. team and now at the professional level, first with Athletes Unlimited and now with the Boston Guard of the Women’s Lacrosse League.
After Saturday’s busy day, there were still players looking to take another step and Ahern, a Gait athlete, held an attacking clinic to pass along her wisdom to those players.
It’s just another thing that makes this tournament different.
“This tournament is so unique in you get to play against other regions,” O’Dougherty said. “There’s nothing really like that that exists. Sure, you have the club team circuit, but it’s not the same. It’s really cool for them to get to represent their state and play high-level against other regions. Even some of the players were saying it’s really fun to see these different regions and how everywhere has their own fingerprint of how they play. It’s just a really fun tournament.”
And for O’Dougherty and the rest of the Washington crew, they’ll finally make it to Foxborough on Sunday to see her alma mater compete for a title. But first, they’ll look to compete in their own championship game on Sunday morning.
This year’s USA Lacrosse Women’s National Tournament event sponsors include Capelli Sport, First Scout Productions, Gait Lacrosse, Go Live Sports (USA Lacrosse TV), Here We Flo, NCSA and Lacrosse Specialties.
Sunday’s Championship Games
All games will be streamed live on USA Lacrosse TV.
Blue Division: Idaho/Montana/Wyoming vs. Southern Ohio
Green Division: North Texas vs. Massachusetts/Rhode Island 4
Orange Division: Massachusetts/Rhode Island 2 vs. Connecticut 1
Red Division: Massachusetts/Rhode Island 1 vs. Washington
Yellow Division: Massachusetts/Rhode Island 3 vs. South Carolina
