The 2024 World Lacrosse Box Championships are set for September 20-29 in Utica, New York with ten teams competing in the first-ever women’s box championship, split into two pools. Six teams advance directly to the playoffs after pool play and teams seeded 7-10 will compete in a play-in round.
The full schedule for the championship can be found here.
Pool A: England; Haudenosaunee; Hong Kong, China; Netherlands; United States
The first-ever women’s box championship offers plenty of intrigue and unknowns across the ten teams. Pool A features three of the strongest teams in field and women’s lacrosse in England, the Haudenosaunee and the United States alongside one of more experienced women’s box lacrosse teams in the Netherlands, while Hong Kong is a rapidly growing organization that has trended upwards in results in all disciplines.
The top three finishers in the pool will advance directly to the quarterfinals, while teams in fourth and fifth place will compete in play-in games for a spot in the playoffs.
Tickets for all games of the box championships are available here.
The United States has embraced the dual challenge of the weighty expectations that come with representing a storied lacrosse program alongside the first foray into a discipline that its top athletes are less familiar with.
Under trailblazing head coach Ginny Capicchioni, the team has named a roster with a mix of players with previous national team experience in other disciplines in addition to players making their national team debut in box lacrosse.
Ally Kennedy, Ally Mastroianni and Charlotte North were all members of the gold-medal U.S. team that won the field women’s championship in 2022 in Towson, and Kristen Carr won gold in 2013 and 2017 and at The World Games 2017 in field lacrosse.
Madison Doucette won a world championship with the 2019 women’s U19 team in Peterborough, Canada. Doucette, Marge Donovan and Sam Swart won a silver medal at The World Games 2022 in Birmingham in sixes lacrosse.
England’s women’s program has been strong in multiple disciplines with a bronze medal in Towson in 2022 and a semifinals appearance in sixes lacrosse for many athletes representing Great Britain at The World Games in 2022.
England has a strong development pipeline in sixes play with an emphasis on stick skills highlighted by The Fly, which takes place each spring, and England also competed in international box lacrosse at the She-Box Invitational at Prague in 2024.
England picked up wins against Finland, Hong Kong and the Netherlands in Prague with 17 players from that squad suiting up in Utica.
Defender Annabelle Akintoye will make history in Utica as the first black woman to captain England at a major tournament and alongside fellow defender Davina Emetulu, the two will also become the first black women to represent England at a major tournament.
Lauren Lewis was the most prolific forward for England in Prague, and should receive strong support from Lucy Ford, Laura Beaman and Ellie Racle. Goalkeepers Tabby Podger and Lucy Mayers both impressed in net as well.
The Haudenosaunee are bringing a diverse group of 26 players to Utica with less of an emphasis on field lacrosse and more on narrowing down an initial tryout pool of over 120 players to a specialized group of box players.
This roster also includes a handful of Indigenous players from outside of Haudenosaunee communities. General manager Jeff Powless has focused on developing the players to their highest potential in the past nine months, and the team holds near-daily practices.
Fawn Porter has been in the Haudenosaunee women’s program for three years and played in The World Games in 2022 in sixes and in field lacrosse in Towson. Timmia Bomberry also played at TWG in Birmingham. Forward Tallis Tarbell will be one of a very small group of players competing in both World Lacrosse championships this year after representing the Haudenosaunee in Hong Kong at the women’s U20 championship.
Chelsea Gibson and Chelsea Doolittle will be in goal for the Haudenosaunee. Six players have previous world championship experience from events over five years ago – forward Joni Squire-hill competed for the Haudenosaunee in field lacrosse in 2009 in Prague and Stacy Smith did the same in 2013 in Oshawa.
The Netherlands is bringing 18 players on its roster who suited up for She-Box in Prague in 2024, with most of the core players also having played in She-Box in 2023 as well.
Goalkeepers Kim Hahn and Darya Saed can both be counted on and Manon Loos, Delaney Keen and Kimberly Vuurboom should lead the forward line. Vuurboom has represented the Netherlands in field lacrosse in three previous senior championships in 2013, 2017 and 2022.
Riley Black and Natalie van der Velde could be two young standouts under 18 years old that make an impact as well as Josie Rammeloo, who is also under 21 years old.
The Hong Kong’s women’s box lacrosse program is spearheaded by familiar former players for Hong Kong in Kelvin Mak and Gemini Fan, with Fan having just coached the women’s U20 team on home soil in August.
Over 12 players that competed for Hong Kong in its trip to Prague for She-Box will be playing in Utica, and Hong Kong picked up wins in Prague against Finland and Norway.
Additionally, seven players have previous women’s championship experience in field lacrosse with six competing in Towson in 2022, led by goalkeeper Claudia Chan as well as Ka Hei Hui and Kinu Ito, who both have three senior championships under their belt.
Joyce Tong, Ito and Hui led the Hong Kong attack in Prague. Hong Kong is bringing three goalkeepers to Utica in Chan, Sally Yue and Sum Tang.
Games to Watch
Friday, September 20: Netherlands vs. United States, 4 p.m., Adirondack Bank Center
The host United States plays its first-ever match of women’s box lacrosse on the opening day of the championship at the Adirondack Bank Center. It will be a good test for the USA stars against a Netherlands team with box lacrosse experience in Europe.
Saturday, September 21: Hong Kong, China vs. Netherlands, 4 p.m. Adirondack Bank Center
Hong Kong, China and the Netherlands play each other in their second game of the championship on day two. Hong Kong’s women’s box lacrosse program is new, but acquitted itself well at the She-Box Championship, which should make for an entertaining matchup against the Netherlands.
Sunday, September 22: England vs. Haudenosaunee, 8:15 p.m., Utica University Nexus Center 1
The Haudenosaunee and England are two talented teams that will believe in their chances for a playoff run, setting the stage for an exciting clash on day three in Utica. It could end up as the most consequential match for playoff seeding in Pool A.
