Maryland’s lacrosse legacy grows with Charm’s inaugural Women’s Lacrosse League title

The Maryland Charm etched their name into women’s lacrosse history Saturday, winning the inaugural Women’s Lacrosse League Championship game.

The Charm took down the California Palms, 16-13, in the title game for the first-year league.

“That’s history right there,” Charm attacker and former Loyola Greyhound Sydni Black said. “Everyone will always remember who the first winner is. It will be the start of a legacy that will continue for years and years and years.”

After a five-point performance that consisted of four goals and one assist, Black also became the first-ever WLL Championship MVP. And although Black originally hails from Ohio, the former Greyhound has spent the better part of the last six years living and training in Maryland.

“I definitely feel like a Marylander now,” Black said. “It’s been amazing to be able to represent Maryland on that highest stage and the highest level in sports.”

With the win, Maryland can now claim to be the home of the inaugural champions for both the Premier Lacrosse League and Women’s Lacrosse League. On the men’s side, the Maryland Whipsnakes claimed the first PLL title in 2019.

That should come as no surprise. After all, lacrosse is the official team sport of Maryland.

“People like to say lacrosse is a Maryland sport,” Charm midfielder Grace Griffin said. “I know it’s obviously played in a bunch of different states, but being able to bring home a lacrosse championship to Maryland — there is nothing better than that.”

State connections abound. Out of the 22 players rostered on the team, 10 of them played college lacrosse in the state. Three of those — including Black — played for Loyola, while the other seven played at Maryland (Aurora Cordingley spent her first four years at Johns Hopkins before playing her final season at Maryland).

Those shared collegiate connections helped the unit gel, according to Griffin, a former Maryland midfielder and a Sykesville native.

All three Greyhounds played under head coach Jen Adams, who joined Loyola after working as an associate head coach under Maryland head coach Cathy Reese. As a result, all 10 of the Charm’s Maryland-connected players have ties to Reese and her coaching tree.

“Especially on defense, it’s the way we kind of communicate — it’s just like our own Maryland language that you pick up on a little bit better,” Griffin said. “And when you’re on the field and you’re having a moment, knowing that you can look over and have a player like Abby [Bosco] or Maddy [Sterling] that I’ve played with before for so many years, just have your back — it just adds a little extra level of comfort and trust on the field.”

But the significance of the Charm’s championship extends beyond Maryland’s already deep lacrosse roots.

When Griffin began playing lacrosse in first grade, the idea of playing professionally never crossed her mind.

“Even in high school, it was just being able to play in college and Division I was … the biggest stage ever,” Griffin said.

Her childhood role models were local players and stars she watched play for the Terrapins. Now, Griffin and her teammates have the chance to serve as role models for the next generation.

“I think that the WLL has just completely taken that and ran with it and provided this for so many people across the country and girls across the country,” she said.

Black has seen that impact throughout the league’s inaugural season, pointing to the young girls who have filled the stands and watched the Charm compete.

For California Palms midfielder Anna Brandt, a White Hall native, that new pathway is just as significant.

Growing up, Brandt said the highest level of women’s lacrosse she could watch was college, while boys could dream of playing professionally in the PLL.

“It was a little upsetting feeling like your dream could kind of die with your college career,” she said.

Now, the WLL has changed that.

“Now that there’s a way to do that and to get compensated for having that, it’s just incredible,” Brandt said. “I think it speaks to how much the sport has grown and just where it’s going.”

With lacrosse set to return to the Olympic stage at the 2028 Los Angeles Games, the sport’s growth shows no signs of slowing down.

Earlier this summer, the PLL announced a $100 million round of financing led by Ares Management (the firm run by Orioles co-owner Michael Arougheti) and billionaire Joe Tsai — the largest capital raise in the history of professional lacrosse. The funding will be used, in part, to deepen investment in the WLL, expand media distribution and grow youth participation as the leagues build toward LA28.

The investment is another sign of the momentum building around professional lacrosse. But for Brandt and the players on the Charm, that momentum represents something much more tangible.

“You play the game for your team and for yourself and all those around you, but you really play it for those girls … and trying to inspire them because what is a legacy if it’s not carried on by whoever’s next up?” Black said. “So to have that opportunity to have the exposure the league has given us is incredible, not just for us, but for those that are going to be following us.”