BALTIMORE, Jan. 23, 2012 – US Lacrosse has announced the TV schedule for the 2012 Champion Challenge, a US Lacrosse event. Both the men's and women's national senior teams will face off against top collegiate competition at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., Jan. 29 as part of the three-day exhibition event.
The schedule of televised Team USA games is as follows:
Sunday, Jan. 29, 11:00 a.m. – U.S. Women's Team vs. Northwestern
Sunday, Jan. 29, 1:30 p.m. – U.S. Men's Team vs. Denver
Both games will be aired live on ESPN3 and re-aired Sunday, Jan. 29 beginning at 10:30 p.m. on ESPNU.
The U.S. women's team faces defending NCAA champion Northwestern University at 11:00 a.m. on ESPN3. This will be the final training opportunity for the 38-player 2011-12 squad, led by Head Coach Ricky Fried (Georgetown University women's head coach), before the roster is trimmed to 24 in preparation for a summer competition tour in Oshawa, Canada, host of the 2013 Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) World Cup.
The 21-member U.S. men's team squares off against the University of Denver, a 2011 NCAA semifinalist, immediately following the women's game and beginning at 1:30 p.m. on ESPN3. The roster includes players from the 2010 FIL World Championship team and the 2009 training team as well as numerous professional level standouts.
Leading the coaching staff for Champion Challenge will be several members of the U.S. men's national team that claimed Team USA's ninth title at the 2010 FIL World Championship. The staff includes Kevin Cassese, currently the head coach at Lehigh University, Shawn Nadelen, entering his first season as head coach at Towson University, and Brian Dougherty, head coach at Chestnut Hill College. New U.S. men's national team head coach Richie Meade also will be in attendance to observe the team in action.
Also participating in this year's seventh annual event are Notre Dame and Jacksonville universities' men's teams, the University of Maryland and Syracuse University's women's teams, and the English women's national team.