Game One for Team One as USA Women's Box Team Competes

YONKERS, N.Y. — Team One is the theme for the 2024 U.S. Women’s Box National Team.

On Saturday, it was game one – plus three more.

A little over a year ago, the U.S. women’s box program launched with a player ID in Utica, N.Y. More ID and training camps have ensued, but the team got its first official game competition in the Hudson Valley Box Lacrosse League Summer Series playing against men’s teams at the EJ Murray Memorial Skating Center

After falling to a pair of New York-based teams – the Mahopac Water Panthers, 9-5, and Team 845, 10-4 – the U.S. women edged the Philadelphia-based Hairy Pups Lacrosse Club, 8-7, on a late goal from Erin Bakes and a save from Madison Doucette with just 36 seconds remaining.

That set up a rematch with the Pups in the third-place game and the U.S. bounced back from a rough start to post a 10-8 victory to complete the event with a 2-2 record. The Pups scored the first five goals of the game and led 6-1 after the first period in a three-period game. The U.S. flipped the script in the second quarter to tie the game 7-7 and ended up scoring the final three goals of the game to complete the rally.

Emily Hawryschuk put the U.S. up 9-8 with just under eight minutes to play and Taylor VanThof closed out the scoring with four minutes left. Both Hawryschuk and VanThof had hat tricks in the win. “We had a lot of challenges today and I think they answered,” said head coach Ginny Capicchioni. “We'll need that for September.”

Capicchioni is tasked with putting together the U.S. team for the inaugural World Lacrosse Women’s Box Championship in Utica, N.Y., this September. Since accepting the role she’s seen complete buy-in from the sport’s premier women’s lacrosse players, but very few had any box experience a year ago. Every step is a learning process.

“This is the first time we're seeing the team completely together as opposed to splitting the roster,” Capicchioni said. “We’re seeing what works, who works together, but mostly seeing them feel comfortable together. The first two games were very different from the last two games and we seem to be really forming a team.”

“We’re starting to put the pieces together,” said Ally Mastroianni, a member of the 2022 U.S. women’s field team that won the world championship. “I think we know what to do, and we’ve been studying with a lot of chalk talk. Actually putting it into action and seeing it all come together – we had some really great moments and some not so great moments, but I think whatever is happening on the field, we’re learning from it.”

Bakes, a former U.S. U19 training team member who starred at Georgetown, saw the notices about the initial box ID camps right as her career with the Hoyas was coming to a close. She wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to keep playing.

“I think most of us started around the same time, but I think it’s really cool that we all just had the heart to go and pioneer, try something new, go in with no egos and be willing to learn,” Bakes said. “Now, here we are.”

Like several of her teammates, Bakes has chased multiple opportunities to get more box experience.

“You can see the improvement,” Capicchioni said. “We haven’t seen them in six months, now it’s like ‘What have you done?’ Some people are almost different players.”

Bakes, who now lives in New York, played with the Mahopac team in an earlier HVBLL Summer Series event. She had former teammates cheering her on, but she wasn’t the only one. The men’s players relished the opportunity to play against, and watch, the elite women’s players, notably Charlotte North.

Jason Koch, a defensive midfielder for Union, said that his team reaching the NCAA Division III championship game in 2022 was the highlight of his lacrosse career, but this experience ranked near the top.

“We’re playing the national team, it’s cool,” said Koch, a player for Mahapoc. “Seeing Charlotte North was pretty cool and seeing the USA jersey.”

“The girls were a lot more physical than I thought,” said Team 845 and Boston University attackman Tommy Garafalo. “I got put on my put on my butt a couple of times. I think they're very talented. I love watching girls’ lacrosse and obviously what Charlotte's done for girls’ lacrosse is awesome. I loved it. It was a great experience.”