Megan Whittle and Emily Nalls at 2022 World Lacrosse Women's Championship

England women’s team players Megan Whittle and Emily Nalls are set to take to the field in the opening fixtures of the inaugural Women’s Lacrosse League (WLL) that begins tonight.

Playing for Maryland Charm and California Palms respectively, Whittle and Nalls both pulled on the England jersey during the 2022 World Lacrosse Women’s Championship in Maryland, USA where they helped the team to third place.

28-year-old attacker Whittle also represented England at the 2019 ELF Women’s Lacrosse Championship where she scored 23 goals and 10 assists as they became European Champions.

Having played for Maryland during her college career, Whittle is the programme’s all-time leading goal-scorer with a massive 298 goals; she was also a two-time champion with the Terrapins and a 2018 Tewaaraton Award finalist.

Nalls, a defender by trade, played and started in all 8 games during her college career at North Carolina, graduating as one of the best in the programme’s history and holding the programme record for single-game ground balls; she won a national championship with the Tar Heels in 2022 and has since earned herself a spot in the USA national team training squad.

The WLL is the women’s arm of the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL), the brainchild of lacrosse legend Paul Rabil, and comes just three years before lacrosse makes its long-awaited return to the Olympic Games in LA in 2028.

All matches can be watched live on ESPN+ in the USA with the inaugural champions crowned on Sunday!

WLL Opening Day Schedule (times UK)