Emily Hawryschuk: 'We Did It'

Emily Hawryschuk has been in the U.S. system since graduating from Syracuse in 2022 after an illustrious career, but her first opportunity as a rostered member of a U.S. Women's National Team came in box lacrosse as an inaugural co-captain of Team One — the first women's box team in U.S. history.

Hawryschuk was essential to the gold medal run in Utica, N.Y., in the fall, and she shared her thoughts on her experience, as told to Brian Logue.

I’ll never forget the first open player ID camp in Utica. There were maybe 25 people on the list. I had never met anyone on the coaching staff and didn't really have any connection to any of them. We ran to the arena next to the Nexus Center.

The lights were off. The flooring was not installed. But Coach Cap said today was the first day of women’s box lacrosse in the United States. She said this was where we would win gold. I got goosebumps. I just knew that day was the start of something incredibly special.

The whole experience was like learning a new sport. We spent a lot of time over Zoom and Coach Cap had the whiteboard out. I felt like I was sitting in lacrosse class learning the box game. Something the coaches preached from the beginning was they weren't just trying to have a bunch of field players be successful at the box game. They wanted to turn field players into box lacrosse players.

This summer, I remember sitting in the locker room in Yonkers and there was talk of Team One getting its first win, which we ended up getting in game three of the Hudson Valley Box Lacrosse League Summer Series playing against men’s teams. In game four, we came back from five goals down to win.

We were box players now.

When we got to Utica for the world championship, Coach Cap said it best about a secret being unleashed and us being that secret because no one had really seen us up until that point. It was our time to shine. We were going to show the world what Team One was about.

By the time we reached the gold medal game, we had spent nearly two years preparing to play Canada. At the end, I can’t describe the amount of joy and pride I had in that moment. I was on the far end of the floor and saw everyone from the bench sprint to Ingrid Boyum. I had tears coming from my eyes.

“We did it,” everyone kept saying.

The legacy we set out to leave was to be courageous. We were a group of strong women who showed such courage in signing up for a sport that most of us had never played.

Another piece of the legacy was to inspire the next generation. Talking with so many people and hearing the young girls who watched the game — whether at the arena or online — to have them say that they want to suit up.

That they want to play this game too.