Indy Bound: Everything You Need to Know About the USA Lacrosse Experience

It’s all about speed this weekend, as the fastest game on two feet makes its way to the racing capital of the world.

The USA Lacrosse Experience gets underway Friday in Indianapolis. The three-day extravaganza will showcase national teams from Colombia, Great Britain, Puerto Rico and the United States in Olympic sixes competition.

Additionally, a 5v5 Queen of the Park tournament and Gait Lacrosse clinics will provide ample opportunities for future Olympians to show their skills and interact with some of the sport’s best athletes.

Here’s everything you need to know about USA Lacrosse’s new tentpole event.

IF YOU GO

» Tickets
» Hotel
» Schedule 

What: USA Lacrosse Experience
Where: Carroll Stadium (IU Indianapolis)
When: Oct. 11-13, 2024

IF YOU WATCH

» YouTube

The 12 international games being contested at the USA Lacrosse Experience will be streamed live on the USA Lacrosse YouTube channel beginning Friday morning.

SIXES SEASON

» World Lacrosse Sixes

The discipline of lacrosse that will be played in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles will be played at this level in the United States for the first time since The World Games 2022 in Birmingham, Ala. (The Premier Lacrosse League uses a variation of sixes for the PLL Championship Series.)

Sixes is a fast-paced version of the sport played on a smaller field (70 x 36 meters), with fewer players (6v6), a condensed game length (four 8-minute quarters) and a 30-second shot clock. Shots out of bounds go the other way. Goal scored? Turn, rake and go. Draws happen only at the start of each quarter. It’s a speed game.

This is the first international competition for the U.S. sixes program since the IOC announced last year that lacrosse would return to the formal Olympic program for the first time in more than a century.

USA AT A GLANCE

» U.S. Men’s Sixes Roster
» U.S. Women’s Sixes Roster

The U.S. sixes rosters are chock full of professional lacrosse talent.

This will be Lindsey Munday’s debut as head coach of the U.S. Women’s Sixes National Team, which will compete in The World Games 2025 next year in China.

All 17 players are Athletes Unlimited pros, including 2024 AU champion Sam Apuzzo and previous two-time winner Taylor Moreno.  That’s not to mention Izzy Scane and Charlotte North, who are the most prolific scorers in NCAA women’s lacrosse history and each are two-time winners of the Tewaaraton Award.

Andy Shay is back as the head coach of the U.S. Men’s Sixes National Team. He’s got a mix of PLL and collegiate stars at his disposal this weekend. Among them are 2024 PLL First Team All-Pro standouts Grant Ament, Matt Campbell, Asher Nolting and Michael Sowers and 2024 PLL Rookie of the Year TJ Malone.

Notre Dame fans especially will want to tune in with reigning Tewaaraton Award winner Pat Kavanagh and two-time USILA Division I Goalie of the Year Liam Entenmann reuniting in red, white and blue. Sniper Jake Taylor, a graduate student, is the only current collegian on the team.

 COLOMBIA AT A GLANCE

» Colombia Men’s Sixes Roster
» Colombia Women’s Sixes Roster

Alex Concannon stands out on the men’s side. A highly touted attackman turned midfielder, Concannon was productive when healthy in his five seasons at NCAA heavyweight Johns Hopkins with 31 goals and 25 assists in 48 career games (22 starts).

And while most of the lineup will feature Americans with Colombian heritage, the homegrown talent includes Illinois Tech midfielder Juan Fernando Bohorquez (Bogotá ) and Tennessee Wesleyan goalie Oscar Andres Cifuentes (Cali).

There’s a similar amalgam of talent on the women’s roster, which is coached by former U.S. Women’s National Team defender Michi Ellers.

Midfielder Isabelle Stockman grew up in Rochester, N.Y., and played collegiately at Marist but now lives in Bogota, Colombia’s capital city. Looking for youth? Harborfields (N.Y.) and Long Island Yellow Jackets 2027 goalie Ava Kalmar is 15.

GREAT BRITAIN AT A GLANCE

» Great Britain Men’s Sixes Roster
» Great Britain Women’s Sixes Roster

For the Olympics and thus sixes, World Lacrosse member nations England, Scotland and Wales join forces as Great Britain.

Headlining the men’s roster, Lyndon Bunio grew up in Calgary but lives and works in London. He recently became England’s all-time leading scorer in box lacrosse and has experience playing in the Western Lacrosse Association and National Lacrosse League.

Bunio scored 19 goals in four games playing sixes at The World Games 2022 for Great Britain. It included an eight-goal outburst in the bronze medal game against Japan.

Homegrown women’s lacrosse staples like Torz Anderson, Emma Oakley, Georgie Southorn and Olivia Wimpenny will be in Indy. They have international experience in spades.

Lauren Hart (UC Davis) and Alice Ripper (North Carolina) currently play at the NCAA Division I level. A graduate student, Ripper landed a spot at UNC after participating in a stateside college tour for England’s U23 team.

PUERTO RICO AT A GLANCE

» Puerto Rico Men’s Sixes Roster
» Puerto Rico Women's Sixes Roster

Former Maryland defensive midfielder and St. John’s basketball walk-on Thomas O’Connell, Bates’ all-time leading scorer Matt Chlastawa and Syracuse/Johns Hopkins short stick Brandon Aviles (2022 U21 captain) are part of the Puerto Rico men’s lineup.

As is Syracuse’s All-American goalie Will Mark, who should hold up well against a high volume of shots, something he faced repeatedly as the NCAA saves-per-game leader three straight years at LIU (2020-22).

The women’s team is similarly loaded with NCAA players. Sky Carrasquillo is a multi-time All-Ivy League honoree at Yale. Teammate Karina Herrera scored 18 goals as a freshman for the Bulldogs, a final four sleeper this year. Defender Hunter Roman bookended her Boston College career with NCAA championships and was a USA Lacrosse Magazine All-American in 2023.

NOTABLE

• Northwestern’s dynamic duo of Erin Coykendall and Izzy Scane are reuniting for an attack and shooting demo, part of a skills clinic Saturday (8 a.m.-12 p.m.) presented by Gait Lacrosse. Charlotte North (draw), Abby Bosco (defense), Taylor Moreno (goalie) and Ally Kennedy/Ally Mastroianni (transition/player up) also will serve as clinicians. NCAA championship-winning coach Andy Shay and several national team athletes will have a similar setup on the men’s side.
• Young women and successful business leaders from Indianapolis will take part in educational sessions and spark valuable mentorship connections Sunday at SheCompetes, presented by Gainbridge. The free event will be held at the Eiteljorg Museum on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• USA Lacrosse has partnered with Able Athletics and Indy Rip Wheelchair Lacrosse to put on an adaptive lacrosse clinic for athletes with disabilities Saturday 10 a.m.-12 p.m. The $35 registration fee includes a ticket to the international sixes games Saturday and an opportunity to play in adaptive games Sunday at IUI.
  The Queen of the Park tournament (Saturday 1-3:30 p.m. at Carroll Stadium) will be fast paced and full of fun, with all participants receiving access to the sixes games and skills clinics as part of their registration. Here’s a video showing what to expect in this new 5v5 format.
• Leading equipment manufacturers and other vendors will be featured in the Fan Zone — open from 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 9 a.m.-12 p.m. Sunday — showcasing their products, services and merchandise.