14. tammikuuta 2025
Around midday on September 18, 2024, the players of the first Finnish women’s box lacrosse national team began arriving at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport with large suitcases. Named bags were handed out, and the atmosphere was filled with anticipation and excitement. Soon, they would board a flight to Boston, followed by a 4 hour bus ride to Utica. For most players, this trip would be their first time in the United States. The team had clear rules: each player was responsible for their roommate the entire journey. "We were on edge until the last minute, wondering if the uniforms would make it," said team captain Suvi Onne when sharing the bags with uniforms to everyone. The first-ever women’s box lacrosse championship match in history (Finland vs. Canada) was an unforgettable experience for the entire team. It felt both like a privilege and an earned opportunity to play in the tournament, considering the significant effort made by the coaches, staff, and players to assemble the team in such a short time. "When our national anthem started playing before that first game, the entire national team project became tangible—'we’re really here, and now it’s time to play,'" recalled team vice-captain Katariina Bitter. Bitter had the honor of delivering the first cross-check in women’s box lacrosse championship history when she stripped the ball from Canada’s Megan Kinna, flooring the Canadian star shortly after the opening whistle. However, what stood out most for Bitter from the tournament was her amazing teammates: "The team spirit was better than I could have ever imagined." The tournament was historic in many ways for both women’s lacrosse and Finnish lacrosse as a whole.