The 48 players making up the first four sides playing the inaugural week of Women’s Lacrosse League fixtures starting in Springfield, Va. have been announced.
The players are who you might expect, such as Charlotte North, Dempsey Arsenault, Kayla Wood, Taylor Moreno, and Kylie Ohlmiller, all of whom had tremendous impact over the first four seasons of the Athletes Unlimited lacrosse promotion.
But we’re also seeing the return of a number of players who we hadn’t seen in a while. Maggie Bill was supposed to have joined the AU league at its 2021 inception, but did not play a game. Bill was a two-sport athlete at North Carolina, winning trophies in both soccer and lacrosse for the Tar Heels. Bill will be suiting up for the California Palms.
Also on the Palms’ roster is Caitlyn Wurzburger, who had more than 1,000 goal involvements at a scholastic player in Florida before playing at North Carolina, winning a national title.
The Maryland Charm have former Loyola midfielder Jillian Wilson, who had been drafted into the league last year but did not see action in the 2024 campaign. One of her teammates for the Free Staters is going to be Megan Whittle, one of the most dynamic scorers we’ve seen in the last decade with Owings Mills McDonogh (Md.) and the University of Maryland. She has been capped by the England women’s lacrosse team.
In addition, the Charm will have Aurora Cordingley, who played in Athletes Unlimited in 2022 but who has been playing a lot of her better lacrosse for Team Canada. She holds championships for Lacrosse Sixes at the 2022 World Games, a month after winning silver at the World Lacrosse Women’s World Cup.
Each of the 48 players have their own stories, but I know a lot of pressure is going to fall on the once and future leaders in women’s lacrosse — Charlotte North and Izzy Scane. North is going to be on an absolutely stacked roster for the Boston Guard, alongside former Boston College teammates Courtney Taylor, Cassidy Weeks, Dempsey Arsenault, and Rachel Hall. Meanwhile, Scane is leading the New York Charging side which will include an interesting melange of Northwestern and Syracuse alums.
In the lightning-quick world of Sixes lacrosse, team chemistry will be the biggest overall key to the success of the teams. I will be watching to see which team is able to get that edge and carry it through the week of games in order to choose a champion.