This evening, in Pawtucket, R.I., the inaugural full-field league match of the Women’s Lacrosse League will be taking place.
The WLL, which follows on from pro women’s lacrosse promotions such as United Women’s Lacrosse, the Professional Women’s Lacrosse League, and Athletes Unlimited, has previously taken the field in the last two years with two Sixes competitions in the late winter, and an all-star game which was played as part of the Premier Lacrosse League’s All-Star weekend.
We know that there will be four teams playing in the league — the California Palms, Boston Guard, New York Charging, and the Maryland Charm. The PLL outdoor rosters, however, are a work in progress. While the cores of all four teams, coming out of the Sixes league, are pretty much intact, there has been a supplemental draft and a couple of waiver periods.
Importantly, however, the WLL a college draft a few weeks ago. Because the NCAA season does not finish until next weekend, a number of 2026 draftees will not yet be available. This includes a top group of close defenders such as Brooklyn Walker-Welch and Reagan O’Brien, who will slot right into their teams once the national title is awarded.
Others defenders from non-Final Four teams such as Boston College’s Shea Baker, Maryland’s Maddy Sterling, and Syracuse’s Coco Vandiver are able to join their teams this and next weekend.
Why am I mentioning defense? Well, the four franchises have played the vast majority of minutes in the Sixes format, where every player is a two-way player.
This means, I think, the first month of the season will be all about offense. players like Charlotte North, Erin Coykendall, and Izzy Scane will be able to run riot on whichever opposition they face. This runs against the usual tendency of defense being ahead of offense in the opening weeks of a lacrosse season.
But I’ll give you one person to watch in terms of how the defenses gel together: California Palms’ veteran midfielder Marie McCool. Even though the Palms have great veteran play in close defense from Katie Detweiler, Emily Nalls, and Kayla Wood, I think McCool will be the quarterback of the defensive third. She is a player who can run all day, is a superb stick-checker, and will provide the leadership needed to win games in this league.
Given the fact that the Palms’ midfielders also include World Games standout Ellie Masera and seasoned pro Ally Mastroanni, I think the best show really takes place beginning next week at the Ridley Family Complex at Loyola University when the Palms take on the Charm.
Should be an interesting summer of lacrosse.