FREDERICA, Del. — The opening day of the 2024 USA Lacrosse Youth Nationals saw plenty of down-to-the-wire battles among the 103 games played at DE Turf. Twenty-four of the 69 competing teams advanced to Wednesday’s playoff round while the remaining teams will continue with consolation play.
The event, which traces its roots to 2009 and has seen scores of the game’s best players over the years, features many of the nation’s top girls’ lacrosse club programs. This is its fourth year in its current format with three age groupings (13U, 14U and 15U) competing.
The championship games of the 14U and 15U age groupings will air live on LacrosseTV. The 14U game begins at 1:30 pm (Eastern) followed by the 15U game at 3 pm.
The Mass Elite, STEPS NJ Elite and the Yellow Jackets club programs all advanced at least one team to the quarterfinals in each of the three age brackets.
In the 13U bracket, Team 91 LI Roar, the No. 2 ranked team in the U.S. Club Lacrosse Class of 2029 rankings was one of eight teams to advance to the quarterfinals. Other pool winners were Gold Coast Black, Mass Elite Red, Tradition, Urban Elite Black and Yellow Jackets Friedman. Earning the two wild card spots into the quarterfinals were Pride NOVA Red and STEPS Elite White.
In 14U play, Yellow Jackets Maget, another No. 2 ranked team in the country, was dominant, allowing just five goals in its three victories. They’ll be joined by Alliance National, Compass Lacrosse, Mass Elite Red, Steps Elite Blue and Urban Elite Black as pool play champions in the quarterfinals. The field also includes wild card qualifiers Orange Crush and Mad Dog West Elite.
In the 15U bracket, two-time event champion Hero’s Green began its quest to become the first team to win its age bracket three years in a row by going 3-0 on Tuesday and allowing just five goals. However, after pitching two shutouts, all five of those goals allowed came in a 6-5 win over Team 180 in its final game of the day. Those teams will meet again in a quarterfinal game on Wednesday after Team 180 earned a wild card bid.
Yellow Jackets Stadler, the No. 2 ranked team in the Class of 2027, joined Hero’s Green as a pool play winner along with Mass Elite Red, STEPS California and STEPS Elite Navy. There were three wild card teams to advance in 15U — Hero’s White, Team 180 and Yellow Jackets Gaghan.
Complete scores and schedules are available here.
This year’s USA Lacrosse Youth Nationals sponsors include the Delaware Tourism Office, Enovis, Gatorade, Lax Jewelry, MedStar Health, STEPS Lacrosse, Strokeside Designs and Top of the Bay Lacrosse and USA Lacrosse partners Gait Lacrosse and STX are both activating on site.
