At long last, the wait is over.
The 2022 World Lacrosse Women's Championship, delayed a full year due to the global pandemic, commences on Wednesday at Johnny Unitas Stadium on the campus of Towson University.
Opening Ceremonies, including the parade of nations, begin at 4:15 p.m., and the evening will be capped off by a rematch of last year's world championship game when Canada and the United States battle at 7 p.m. in a game that will be televised nationally on ESPN2.
Nearly 600 athletes representing 30 nations are expected to compete in 117 games over the 11 days, culminating with the gold medal game on Saturday, July 9 at 12 noon.
USA Lacrosse is the host organization for the event, which is being held for the 11th time since 1982. This is just the third time that it has been held in the United States. The women's world championship was previously held in Swarthmore, Pa. (1986) and Annapolis, Md. (2005).
No nation has ever won the women's world championship on home soil, but the United States is hoping to end that trend. The U.S. fell to Australia in the gold medal game in 1986 and 2005, but the U.S. has won the last three world championships, defeating Australia in the gold medal game in 2009 in the Czech Republic, beating host Canada in 2013 and downing Canada in 2017 in England.
The U.S. enters this year's championship as the No. 1 seed and is followed by Canada, England, Australia, Scotland, Israel, Wales, New Zealand, Japan and the Czech Republic in the top 10.
