A women’s lacrosse powerhouse in Arthur is on the hunt for another championship.
The Arthur Aces women’s senior team has had great success since starting in 2016 in what is now called Women’s Major Series Lacrosse (WMSL).
The Aces won back-to-back league and OLA provincial titles in 2019 and 2022, with COVID wiping out a couple seasons in between.
After losing in the provincial championship game in 2023, they are back in the saddle, in a three-way tie for first place with a 6-1 record, their lone defeat coming last weekend, 5-4 to the Hamilton Bengals.
“We’ve got a great bunch of young ladies that are very respectable and they represent the name and Arthur very well,” said head coach Reg Holinshead. “We’re very happy with what we have.”
Players initially were recruited from the Arthur area. But over the years, players have also been drawn in from Centre Wellington as a whole, Guelph and Waterloo Region.
The 10-team league has been growing steadily since it was established in 2008, then known as the Ontario Women’s Box Lacrosse League (OWBLL).
The name changed to WMSL in 2022 to sync up with the men's Major Series Lacrosse league, a summer box lacrosse league for National Lacrosse League players.
Peterborough and Kingston both had WMSL teams established ahead of the 2024 season.
The league operates similar to how the Premier Lacrosse League does in the United States.
Instead of having a number of home games, teams in the WMSL gather in one town once a week and typically play two games on the same day on what is called league days.
The women's rules are similar to the men’s game, but with subtle differences. The physicality is very much the same as the men’s game, Holinshead said.
The league itself is getting younger as well. The top teams, he added, are quicker and are women in their early to mid 20s.
It’s another step up for these women who love the sport, and wanted a place to play after aging out at 22-years-old.
“To me, it’s really important to have that team around, and younger girls can look up and see that they do have a place to play,” Holinshead said. “The quality of play has gone up crazy, and we’ve got several players (in WMSL) trying out for Team Canada."
One of those players is Aces player Tori Verbeek, a recent University of Guelph grad and women’s hockey standout.
With seven goals and 14 points in five games this season, she is among the league scoring leaders.
Verbeek will try out for Team Canada’s entry to the World Lacrosse Box Championships in Utica, New York in September.
The first-year player has been an affiliate player for the Aces over the last few years.
She has been able to lean on experience from women like Haley Price, who has been the Ace’s captain for several years, and has played for Team Ontario at national tournaments. She now helps to coach Team Ontario.
Abby Clayton, Holinshead said, is another player who has been with the team since its inception.
“For years, (the WMSL) was a secret,” he said.
“You’d talk to people around the lacrosse world, who have been around lacrosse forever, and you talk about the women’s league, and they say ‘what, when did that start?”
He said it’s nice to see that change, and more people recognizing the senior league.
More information on the WMSL is available on the league website.
