Three days from now, somebody wins the first-ever WLL Championship. Our pick is the Boston Guard, and we’re not hedging about it.
The 2025 WLL Championship Series runs February 11–17 in Springfield, Virginia — the culmination of a league that Paul Rabil announced on ESPN Get Up just three months ago. Nobody expected this thing to get off the ground this fast, and yet here we are, with four elite rosters and one trophy. On February 17, the Boston Guard and New York Charging settle it. Here’s exactly how it plays out.
The Matchup at the Top: North vs. Scane
Every piece of this preview starts with the same two names: Charlotte North and Izzy Scane. Boston Guard captain Charlotte North is the most dangerous finisher in the six-on-six format — she reads defensive rotations faster than anyone on the field, and in a Sixes game where possessions are compressed and individual decisions carry outsized weight, that’s a structural advantage. New York Charging captain Izzy Scane is the all-time NCAA scoring record holder at Northwestern, and she arrived at this Championship Series as the player everyone was watching before opening circle. Scane has the range to punish any gap in the Guard’s defensive scheme, and she generates enough attention to open lanes for everyone around her.
The Guard wins this matchup not by shutting Scane down — nobody shuts Izzy Scane down — but by making her work for every touch. The Guard’s defensive structure has been the most organized in the series, and in a format this compact, organized defense is worth more than one elite scorer trying to take over on her own.
What Boston Needs to Do
Win the transition battle. Lacrosse Sixes lives and dies on fast breaks, and the Guard’s ability to push tempo off turnovers has been their defining characteristic. They need to be relentless about clearing quickly and trusting North in space. When North gets the ball in the open field with a step on her defender, it’s essentially a free-throw situation — the Guard needs to manufacture those moments early, get on the board, and force the Charging to play catch-up.
They also cannot get passive in settled defense. New York has patience and precision. The Guard’s defenders need to be active and disruptive — make the Charging execute under pressure, not hand them clean looks from settled sets.
What New York Needs to Do
The Charging need Scane to find her rhythm in the first half and stay in it. If New York goes down early and Scane is pressing, this game gets uncomfortable fast. Their path to winning this championship runs through disciplined offensive execution — use Scane as the primary threat, but don’t run every possession through her. The teams that have pushed the Guard have been the ones that spread the ball, created motion, and forced Boston’s defense to rotate. New York has the personnel to do that. Whether they have the composure to do it against the best-organized defensive unit in the series is the actual question.
They also need to take care of the ball. Turnovers in Sixes don’t just cost possessions — they hand the opponent a fast-break in a format designed to reward fast-breaks. One sloppy clear or forced feed in the final minutes and the Guard will put it away.
The X-Factors
For Boston: depth. In a Championship Series format where rosters are trimmed and minutes are compressed, the Guard’s ability to get production from outside their top option is the difference-maker. If North draws a bracket coverage and the Guard’s secondary scorers step up, New York has no answer.
For New York: momentum. The Charging have shown they can string together stretches of elite offensive execution that feel almost unstoppable. If Scane gets rolling in the second half with the game close, the weight of that NCAA record means something — she’s been in big moments before, and she performs in them.
The Pick: Boston Guard
Boston Guard wins the 2025 WLL Championship, and it’s not a coin flip. The Guard are better-constructed for this format. Their defensive discipline, transition game, and the presence of Charlotte North as an alpha scorer who also elevates everyone around her adds up to a team that’s built for a one-game championship scenario. Scane is an all-time player. She still loses this one.
Final score: Boston Guard 22, New York Charging 17. Write it down. The WLL’s inaugural champion is going to earn it the hard way — and the Guard are the only team here ready to play it that way.