Five years ago this week, Taylor Cummings, the only woman with three Tewaaraton trophies for women’s lacrosse excellence write this on Twitter:
Who’s ready for another day of split computer screens & not being able to fully watch four top 8 matchups in the @NCAALAX women’s tourney? Don’t worry though, I’m also able to have the men’s games up on actual TV & will enjoy both of them right to the very end! Again!
The NCAA heard her, and women’s lacrosse fans, loud and clear. The Division I committee changed the schedule to give each of the quarterfinal matches their own exclusive broadcast windows: one game at noon, one at 2:30 p.m., one at 5 p.m., and one at 7:30 p.m.
The one problem with this setup is that the four games are held on a Thursday. This means that, for many of the markets where the games would be held, the games are completely and utterly inaccessible for youth lacrosse players.
This is especially galling, considering that the first game of the day in 2026 was held in at Homewood Field in Baltimore, about three miles up Charles Street from where women’s lacrosse began in America.
The listed attendance tells the tale: 479.
What has to happen is that the people who run women’s lacrosse needs to do exactly what the men do for their quarterfinal rounds: have a Saturday and a Sunday doubleheader at two preselected neutral sites. The sites, I think, need to be at mid-sized grounds.
Now, there are some former NCAA Final Four sites like Goodman Stadium in Lehigh, Pa., Unitas Stadium in Towson, Md., Wake Med Soccer Park in Cary, N.C., and Subaru Park in Chester, Pa. which would be easy turnkey solutions. But there are some other places which could be considered:
- Yurcak Field, Rutgers University. The intimate ground is a former home for the New Jersey Pride of Major League Lacrosse, and has plenty of room and roadways for parking, entry, and exit.
- White Stadium, Boston. The historic stadium is being renovated for Boston Legacy FC of the NWSL, and is a much more intimate setting than some of the alternatives in the area.
- Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, Commerce, Colo. The ground is the home for the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer and is in close proximity to the fanbases of Denver University and the University of Colorado.
- Etihad Stadium, Queens, N.Y. The 25,000-seat facility, which opens next year, will attract supporters from the entire tri-state area, including Long Island.
- PayPal Park, San Jose. For a burgeoning Bay Area/Northern California girls’ lacrosse community, the home of the San Jose Earthquakes would be a definite attraction.
- Audi Field, Washington, D.C. The stadium is less than a decade old, but could face some fixture congestion. Three soccer teams and a United Football League franchise now call the place home.
- American Legion Memorial Stadium, Charlotte. It is near-perfect size and the last few ACC Tournaments have given it a proof of concept for an NCAA quarterfinal.
- Historic Crew Stadium, Columbus. The NCAA would be stepping into an interesting situation here, as there are two soccer specific stadia in the city, but this is the older facility, currently with a UFL team as its main tenant.
- HersheyPark Stadium, Hershey, Pa. It’s a older facility, built in 1939, but has held a number of large events over the years, and has easy entry and exit to local interstates.
- Mitchel Athletic Complex, Uniondale, N.Y. The former home of the New York Power of the WUSA and the Long Island Lizards of Major League Lacrosse, it is actually up the street from Shuart Stadium in Hempstead.
And if the NCAA was truly enterprising in terms of growing the game, here are three sites outside of the proverbial box:
A. CPKC Stadium, Kansas City. The home of the Kansas City Current made an enormous splash in terms of stadium construction, showing what could happen if a ground was built with women’s soccer in mind.
B. Torero Stadium, San Diego. The 6,000-seater is on the campus of the University of San Diego, and is associated with a moment in the history of women’s sports: it was the site of the last championship game of the Women’s United Soccer Association in 2003.
C. Ford Center, Frisco, Tex. This ground, the former home of the Dallas Rattlers of Major League Lacrosse, was the site of the 2017 Steinfeld Cup final. It would be, I think, a better alternative than nearby Toyota Stadium.
Now that we’ve done our site thought experiment, there is one other consideration for these two doubleheaders. When do you hold these games?
It’s an easy answer: hold the women’s doubleheaders the same days as the men, but start the action in the evening, with games at 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m., and put them on the same networks as the men.
It could also lend itself to marketing: Lacrosse After Dark.
Over to you, NCAA.