Above – Vero Beach’s Abbey Shields will be in action with the US Women’s U19 team at the Champions Challenge With lacrosse season just around the corner, the U.S. Women’s National Senior and Under-19 Teams will take the field for the first time this year at the 10th annual Champions Challenge, Jan. 17-18, 2015 at Barron Collier High School in Naples, Fla.

The U.S. senior women will bring a 39-player training roster to Florida and will compete against defending NCAA champion University of Maryland and runner-up Syracuse University in a total of four split-squad contests. The U.S. U19 women will take on Rollins University and Stetson University in what will be the team’s first game action since the 25-player training roster was selected in July.

Game Schedule

Saturday, Jan. 17

9-11 a.m. Boys youth clinic (grades 3-12)

11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. Girls youth clinic (grades 3-12) 1 p.m. – US Men’s Team U.S. Men’s National Team Blue-White exhibition 3 p.m. – U.S. Women’s National U19 Team vs. Stetson 5:30 p.m. – U.S. Women’s National Team vs. Syracuse (Game 1) 7:30 p.m. – U.S. Women’s National Team vs. Syracuse (Game 2)

Sunday, Jan. 18

10:30 a.m. – U.S. Women’s National Team vs. Maryland (Game 1) 12:30 p.m. – U.S. Women’s National Team vs. Maryland (Game 2) 3 p.m. – U.S. Women’s National U19 Team vs. Rollins Eight players from the squad that won gold at the 2013 Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) World Cup in Oshawa, Ontario, return to the training team, including all-world performers in attacker Lindsey Munday and goalkeeper Devon Wills. Among other World Cup returners are attacker Danielle Etrasco, midfielders Sarah Bullard, Caitlyn McFadden, Kelly Rabil and Katie Schwarzmann, and defender Jenn Russell. An additional six players from the gold-medal winning 2011 U.S. Women’s Under-19 Team earned a spot on the senior national team, coached by Ricky Fried (Georgetown University). Champions Challenge will be the final evaluation opportunity for U.S. U19 team hopefuls as the squad prepares for the 2015 FIL Under-19 World Championship, July 23-Aug. 1 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Among the 25 players on the training team are two Florida natives – Barron Collier midfielder Olivia Ferrucci and Vero Beach attacker Abby Shields. The final 18-player roster is expected to be announced by head coach Kim Simons (Bryn Mawr School, Md.) in late January. Admission for the event, hosted by US Lacrosse and the Naples, Marco Island, Everglades Convention & Visitors Bureau is just $10 for adults and $5 for children with a student ID or team gear. There is no parking fee. Clinics are also available for girls’ players in grades 3-12 on Saturday, Jan.17, from 9-11 a.m. Youth and high school players will have the opportunity to learn from members of reigning back-to-back world champion U.S. women’s senior team. Coverage of the event will be available on USLacrosse.org and LaxMagazine.com, as well as through Facebook (fb.com/uslacrosse and fb.com/lacrossemagazine), Twitter (@USLacrosse and @LacrosseMag), Instagram (@USLacrosse and @LacrosseMag) and on the US Lacrosseand Lacrosse Magazine YouTube channels. Follow the U.S. women’s national team using the hashtag #USAWLAX. For more information on the Champions Challenge or to register for a clinic, visit the event home page. For U.S. Men’s Blue-White Exhibition information, read the roster announcement.