Syracuse lacrosse: Orange take the stage at 2024 World Lacrosse Box Championships

Both former and current ‘Cuse players will represent the Orange at the sport’s major international indoor event this September.

At the end of this week, the lacrosse world will focus its attention on Central New York.

That’s the location of the 2024 World Lacrosse Box Championships, which will take place in Utica from September 20-29.

The international box lacrosse tournament is held once every four years, with the inaugural edition being held in 2003. That makes this the sixth iteration of the men’s championship, while the women’s championship is being held for it’s historic first time this year.

It’s set to be the biggest tournament in their history with the addition of the 10 new women’s teams plus a record 28 teams for the men.

Among the hundreds of athletes representing their countries from around the globe is a handful of Syracuse Orange players taking the field for a few different nations, including the United States on both the men’s and women’s sides.

In the men’s tournament, Joel White and Joey Spallina were named to the 23-man US roster, where they will be led by fellow Orange alum Regy Thorpe, the Team USA head coach.

One of the most dynamic and electric athletes in recent ‘Cuse lacrosse memory, White is a real veteran of Team USA in both the field and box games. This is his third world box team, and most recently he was a member of the US team that took home the bronze at the last box championships in 2019.

Meanwhile, Spallina adds a big feather in the cap of his resume by making the team while still being a junior in college, a very impressive accolade for the current Orange leader. Joey’s already stamped his indoor credentials with an incredible summer in the Ontario Junior Lacrosse League when he led the league with an unbelievable 202 points while leading the Orangeville Northmen to the league title.

On the women’s side, two recent SU alums will be participating as Emily Hawryschuk and Sam Swart were both named to the inaugural US women’s box national team.

Hawryschuk was a two-time All-American and is the Orange’s all-time leading goal scorer with 272 career finishes, while Swart was a two-time All-ACC selection who finished her stellar college career with 185 points.

It’s such a cool opportunity for Emily and Sam to get to don the USA jersey for this historic moment for women’s box lacrosse.

Elsewhere, the Haudenosaunee men’s roster is loaded with ‘Cuse talent, starting with current player Trey Deere. Like Joey, Trey had a phenomenal summer with the Orangeville Northmen, finishing fourth overall in the league with 159 points as he looks to impress Gary Gait and the SU coaching staff with his work in the box game this summer and fall.

Trey’s joined by a whole cadre of talented ‘Cuse alums for the Haudenosaunee, including Brendan Bomberry, Warren Hill, Cody Jamieson, Randy Staats, and Jeremy Thompson. If you’re an Orange fan whose looking to watch some of this tournament, you can’t go wrong with any of the Haudenosaunee games.

That does it for the high profile teams with ‘Cuse players, but alum Nate Solomon will also be participating in the tournament as a member of Team Israel, who are competing in Pool B. Israel is actually ranked fifth in the Box World Rankings, just two spots behind the US in third.

The history of the World Lacrosse Box Championships has been an extremely predictable one, as the same teams have finished in the same order in every single tournament. Canada has won the gold medal five out of five times, while the Haudenosaunee have taken silver and the US has grabbed the bronze. Not only has Canada won every tournament, they’ve never lost a single game in the tournament’s history. The definition of domination has never been more clear.

It’s going to be very fun to see so much Orange representation at this event. The tournament is going to be available to watch on ESPN, with most games streaming on ESPN+ and a few games on TV. Both the Haudenosaunee and US men’s games on September 24 will be on ESPNU, while both the men’s and women’s gold medal games on September 29 will be on ESPN2.