U.S. Men’s National Team Blue-White Game to Headline Champion Challenge

BALTIMORE, November 12, 2013 — US Lacrosse today announced the teams scheduled to participate in the ninth annual Champion® Challenge, a US Lacrosse event at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., Jan. 24-26, 2014. The event will feature the world champion U.S. Men’s and Women’s National Teams, and will be televised on ESPNU and ESPN3.

The defending world champion U.S. Men’s National Team will play a Blue-White scrimmage, pitting 51 of the nation’s premier players against each other in a matchup for 23 spots on the 2014 Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) World Championship roster. Champion® Challenge will be the final on-field opportunity for the Team USA hopefuls to make an impression on head coach Richie Meade (Furman University) and staff as they look to secure a spot on the squad that will defend gold on July 10-19 in Denver, Colo. The final Team USA World Championship roster is expected in February.

After defending their FIL World Cup title this summer in Oshawa, Ontario, the U.S. Women’s National Team will square off against defending NCAA champion University of North Carolina, as well as NCAA runner-up University of Maryland over the weekend. Team USA will travel with its 38-player training team roster, which will include 15 members of the gold medal-winning squad. The training squad will be split in half to compete in two contests each against North Carolina and Maryland.

Team USA Game Schedule

Saturday, Jan. 25
5 p.m. – U.S. Women’s National Team vs. University of Maryland
7 p.m. – U.S. Women’s National Team vs. University of Maryland

Sunday, Jan. 26
11 a.m. – U.S. Women’s National Team vs. University of North Carolina (ESPNU/ESPN3)
1:30 p.m. – U.S. Men’s National Team Blue vs. U.S. Men’s National Team White (ESPNU/ESPN3)
1:30 p.m. – U.S. Women’s National Team vs. University of North Carolina

Also in attendance will be the Syracuse University and Stetson University women’s teams, which will practice and play an exhibition on Jan. 24 at 7 p.m.

On Saturday, Jan. 25, the U.S. Women’s National Team will host clinics for youth and high school players and coaches from 1-3 p.m. Registration is now available at uslacrosse.org/nationalteamclinics.

For more information on the U.S. National Teams, visit uslacrosse.org/teamusa. Follow the team on Facebook at fb.com/uslacrosse, on Twitter and Instagram at @uslacrosse and use #USAMLAX and #USAWLAX.

The World Champion U.S. Men's National Teams train and play using best-in-class products provided by Nike (apparel and footwear), STX (equipment), Cascade (helmets) and Shock Doctor (mouth guards). Nationwide and Marriott International are official sponsors of Team USA.

Champion Athleticwear is the official apparel sponsor of the U.S. women’s national teams. deBeer is the official equipment sponsor of the U.S. women’s national teams. Marriott, Nationwide and Shock Doctor are official sponsors of the U.S. National Teams Program.