page_title: College lacrosse
section_title: NCAA Women's Lacrosse
hierarchical_section_title: College lacrosse / NCAA Women's Lacrosse
caption_attribution_description: English: 2005 NCAA Women's Lacrosse Championship in Annapolis, MD: Virginia Cavaliers and Northwestern University WildcatsAly Josephs with Amy Appelt behind
context_page_description: College lacrosse is played by student-athletes at colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. In both countries, men's field lacrosse and women's lacrosse are played at both the varsity and club levels. College lacrosse in Canada is sponsored by the Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association and Maritime University Field Lacrosse League, while in the United States, varsity men's and women's lacrosse is governed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, National Junior College Athletic Association and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. There are also university lacrosse programs in the United Kingdom sponsored by British Universities and Colleges Sport and programs in Japan.
  In the U.S., as of the 2019–20 academic year, there were 74 NCAA-sanctioned Division I men's lacrosse teams, 75 Division II men's lacrosse teams, and 248 Division III men's lacrosse teams. There are 117 Division I women's lacrosse teams, 114 Division II women's lacrosse teams, and 293 Division III women's lacrosse teams.
context_section_description: Women's college lacrosse differs significantly from men's lacrosse in terms of rules and equipment. The NCAA holds lacrosse championships for all three divisions and currently has 524 women's lacrosse programs. Women's collegiate lacrosse was originally governed by the U.S. Women's Lacrosse Association, which joined with the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) to determine an annual champion. The USWLA and AIAW conducted championships from 1978–1982 before being usurped by the NCAA. The NCAA began sponsoring a Division III championship in 1985 and added a Division II championship in 2001.
caption: Virginia vs. Northwestern (2005)
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