Following in the footsteps of the PWHL and NWSL, the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) announced the inaugural teams for their new Women’s Lacrosse League (WLL) in December: the Boston Guard, California Palms, Maryland Charm, and New York Charging. Now, less than a month out from the first championship series, the league and its teams are ready to take the field.
Just like in the upcoming 2028 Olympics, the Women’s Lacrosse League will play in the sixes format. A compact, fast-paced version of the sport, sixes features a smaller field, with fewer players and a shorter game length. It also includes a 30-second shot clock, thus is a combination of field lacrosse and box lacrosse.
“We firmly believe that this is the beginning of what will be a monumental movement in the game of professional women’s lacrosse, and for female athletes around the globe,” Charlotte North, a former NCAA champion with Boston College, said to Premier Lacrosse League. “We are determined to work tirelessly to grow the game and inspire the next generation of young girls, while ultimately competing for championships each season. It’s our time.”
North and Boston’s team will debut as the Guard, with a logo depicting Boston’s historic nature: Paul Revere on his horse with a lantern. The Guard’s colors; red, white, and navy blue; are similar to other major Boston teams—the NFL’s Patriots, MLB’s Red Sox, and PLL’s Boston Cannons.
“It means everything to be able to go back to Boston,” North said on the WLL’s Instagram page in a promo video.
At Boston College, North helped bring home the school’s first women’s lacrosse national championship in 2021 and “became one of the most recognizable players in the sport at any level,” according to USA Lacrosse.
Alongside North, three other talented lacrosse players will be heading the remaining teams—Ally Mastroianni (California Palms), Alex Aust Holman (Maryland Charm), and Scane (New York Charging).
After winning the 2022 NCAA championship with the University of North Carolina, Mastroianni competed with North in the 2022 World Championship on gold medal-winning team U.S.A. While training for the next World Championship in 2026, both Mastroianni and North were named to the U.S.’s 2024 Women’s Box roster. Holman was a member of the gold medal-winning national team in 2017, and currently assistant coaching at her alma mater, the University of Maryland.
Scane is the youngest of the four, recently finishing her collegiate career as a Northwestern Wildcat in May 2024. She broke the NCAA’s career goal record with 376 scored in 84 games over six years—held previously by North with 358 in 87 games.
These women who are ambassadors for the league are considered some of “the best lacrosse players in the world.”
The league’s first game will take place on Feb. 11 with a match-up between Maryland and New York; Boston premieres the next day at 9 p.m. ET against the California Palms. The series will close just six days later with the championship game played on Feb. 17.
