TOWNSON, Md.— The Colorado Mesa University women's lacrosse team has two representative at the 2022 Women's World Championship, which is underway here at Townson University.
 
Maverick Head Coach Shannon McHale is an assistant coach for the Swiss National Team while incoming Maverick midfielder/defender Ella Freemon is playing for New Zealand.
 
The 29-team tournament, the largest in the event's history, will run through July 9.
 
The 2022 championship, delayed a year a full year due to the global pandemic, is the 12^th overall World Championship.  It is being hosted in the United States for the third time.
 
107 of the total games are available to be streamed on ESPN+, while six others, including both semifinals and medal round games, can be seen on linear television on ESPN2 and ESPNU.
 
Switzerland played their first of four Pool E games on Thursday, falling 13-7 to China.  They will play Argentina, Haudenosaunee and Japan in their remaining early round games Saturday through Monday, respectively.
 
New Zealand, seeded eighth overall, was victorious in their Pool D opener, taking down Ireland by a 10-8 score on Thursday.  Freemon, a native of the nation's most populous city of Auckland, was not included in the game participation report of that game.
 
The Kiwis will play Austria, Spain and Hong Kong in their other pool play games on Friday, Saturday and Monday, respectively.
 
After pool play, the teams will be divided between a 16-team Championship an 13-team Platinum Bracket for the remainder of the tournament.
 
McHale is wrapping up her second year in charge of the CMU program, posting a combined 20-11 (.645) overall record while guiding the Mavericks to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament title game in each of the past two years.  The Mavericks have posted a combined 17-3 RMAC record in those two seasons, finishing second in the regular season standings, and are undefeated by seven of the eight current and former RMAC members.