Canada's Erica Evans on 'dream' of seeing lacrosse in Olympics

Erica Evans didn’t expect such a rush of emotion, but talking about the potential of competing at the 2028 Olympics in LA had the 27-year-old from Peterborough, Ont. crying happy tears.

Canada has won two world titles in women’s lacrosse, and Evans was part of both teams — first, at the U-19 level, and then more recently at the 2022 World Games. Last month, she discovered she’d also have a chance to play her sport on the Olympic stage, when LA 2028 announced lacrosse sixes would be added to its program. Those Games will mark the debut for sixes, though field lacrosse was played at the Olympics in 1904 and 1908 (Canada won gold both times) and was a demonstration sport at three other Games.

Shortly after Evans coached Trent University to a bronze medal in the OUA championships, she caught up with Sportsnet to talk about her start in lacrosse, to shed a few tears about the possibility of her Olympic dream coming true, and to explain why sixes is a great spectator sport.

This conversation is the fifth of six with top Canadian athletes involved in the six sports added to the schedule for LA 2028. The first in the series features flag football player, Sara Parker. The second is with Larissa Franklin, a veteran of Canada’s national softball team. The third is with Canadian Texas Rangers prospect Mitch Bratt. And the fourth is with identical twins and national junior squash champions, Ocean and Spring Ma.

SPORTSNET: Lacrosse sixes is pretty new sport. Can you explain how it works compared to field lacrosse, which I think more people are familiar with?

EVANS: It's a hybrid between field and box, and I think that's how the people that put it together were looking at it. They wanted to take the awesome parts from both styles of lacrosse and make it into one. It’s a shorter field; you only have five runners, plus your goalie; there’s a 30-second shot clock — it's a lot different than field, where internationally there's no shot clock. In sixes, if you shoot and you miss the net, it’s automatically the other team's ball. … Quarters are only eight minutes instead of 15, so it’s a shorter game, too.

From a spectator and excitement standpoint, it makes sense for sixes to be in the Olympics instead of box or field lacrosse?

Oh yeah. I feel like when it comes to viewership, it's exciting, it's fast. There’s a lot going on in a short amount of time, which is what people come to see, right?

Does the sixes style play to your strengths?

Yeah, in sixes you have to play offence and defence. Being a midfielder, I already play that kind of position anyway in regular field. I’m good at offence, I’m good at defence, I can transition the ball and you need players like that within this game that can do that. And then, since I grew up playing box lacrosse, that helps with understanding the five-on-five and how to shift and move and get open in a smaller space, too. 

How did you get into lacrosse?

My family is quite a big lacrosse family in Peterborough. [Evans has four cousins who played in the National Lacrosse League.] They played for the Lakers [the Senior ‘A’ team in Peterborough] so I would go to games and watch them play when I was younger. That's how I got into box lacrosse, when I was four. I didn't really get into field until about 2008. The U-19 Women's Field Lacrosse Championships were at Trent University in 2007, and I went with some friends and family to watch. I didn't know that there was women's field, really, and I didn't know that there were opportunities to play for your national team in lacrosse. This is at the point where I was back and forth between hockey and lacrosse, thinking of what I wanted to pursue and continue with. When I found out about that, and I learned that I could also get a scholarship to the States, that's when I leaned into lacrosse.

What was your experience like playing for Canisius University in Buffalo?

It was a mid-major program when I was coming in, and I just felt like I would really be able to step on the field right away and do my part. That's what intrigued me about it, and the program that I wanted was there, which was physical health education. And then [Scott] Teeter being the coach, and he's our national team coach, so that drew me as well. I started when I was a freshman, which is what I wanted to do, and I feel like I made my mark there … I think that program really made me the player that I am, especially on the field side.

What is it about your game that makes you great?

I’m very shifty and agile, and I feel like I do a good job of getting to the net. As I’ve gotten older, I feel like I do a better job of seeing the field, too. I think I'm just a tenacious player, that I don't give up even if I get the ball stripped from me, which happens. I’ll be chasing the person down to get that ball back. I'm a really good shooter, too. I've had goalies tell me they have a hard time reading my shot, just the way that I release it. And I really enjoy playing, so I think that also helps me be successful.

When did you start drawing notice from the national team?

I was trying out when I was a senior in high school and then going into my freshman year of college. So that one year of college under my belt was really important going into that U-19 World Cup [which Canada won], because it kind of built my confidence and made me realize my potential and my strengths. I feel like that's when I started to get a little bit more notice from national teams and even interest from other colleges, too.

What do you mean by interest?

I would get face guarded a lot more in games, meaning I have a player on me at all times, anytime I’m in the offensive zone. I had a couple of college coaches kind of regretting passing me over when they were recruiting, so those kind of things.

You tore your ACL ahead of your senior year at Canisius. What were you thinking as far as your next steps in lacrosse at that point?

It happened before the season, so I could red-shirt fully. I could take a fifth year [of eligibility] if I wanted to. Then I found out my coach was leaving for a job in Louisville. I had a teammate from Team Canada, she’s a college coach and she was telling me, ‘There are coaches that are interested, if you want to transfer for your grad year, they would love to have you.’ I talked about it with my parents and my mom was like, ‘Why not? Could you go to a program that’s top five?’ That made me think I could be fighting in May for a national championship, which would be really amazing, especially in my last year. And that's where the ball started rolling with me transferring to Maryland, which is where I ended up my fifth year. 

And where you won an NCAA title.

It was so surreal. When I was at Canisius, it was the enjoyment of lacrosse and just making it to the NCAA tournament and getting a degree. But when I transferred to Maryland, I was like, ‘This is an opportunity to actually go out on top,’ quite literally.

Sometimes I feel like it's just a dream. It was an incredible experience to be there at that Final Four weekend, and to carry that trophy off the field and celebrate with my teammates. 

Is that your career highlight, maybe second to that U-19 world championship?

Yes, those are definitely my top two. At world championships, I had my parents and my grandparents and one of my cousins was over in Europe and they all watched. Being the first Canadian women's lacrosse team to win a world championship and being a part of that kind of history is something very special. And then obviously the national championship I think would be second to that just because it's so hard to do. And then I would say my third one would probably be last summer, winning gold at the World Games for sixes.

What was that experience like, beating Team USA in the final?

I think we were one or two [goals] behind going into the fourth quarter. Our goalie made amazing saves and we just started finding the back of the net and we pulled away by two goals. And then the buzzer went and it was awesome. It was amazing for Dana Dobbie, who's a veteran of the Team Canada program, and she's one of the main reasons that we have the sixes hybrid sport of lacrosse — she's been a very big trailblazer with the women's side of lacrosse, and she's a big part of why it's in the Olympics. That was her first gold medal. It was super exciting, not only for myself, but for her to win because she's done so much for the sport.

This was the first sixes tournament that was truly international — the first one where there were countries from pretty much every continent playing. To be the first team to win, that was exciting. And especially now that it's in the Olympics, it's even more awesome because we know that we are capable of winning that gold medal.

If the Olympics were tomorrow, would Canada be the team to beat?

Usually the U.S. is the favourite to win, no matter what. I think we’d be neck-and-neck with them. But it’s exciting because sixes elevates everybody else. I think it gives other countries the opportunity to have, kind of, their stake in the gold, because it is very different, there's a lot of strategy behind it. For countries that may not be a top contender at the world cup, it gives them the opportunity to be a top contender. It’s kind of closing the gap.

You have a lot of family members that played a high level of sports [three of her uncles played in the NHL]. What did they say to you once they heard your sport was going to be at the Olympics?

My one cousin was like, ‘This will be a nice way to go out on your career,’ because I’ll be 32 when the Olympics happen. A lot of them are very excited — they believe that I can be there.

Do you believe it?

I do. I think as long as I stay healthy and I train and do my part, I think I can be there. We’ll see, obviously — it's four years away. But I'm going to do my part to make sure that I give myself a chance. [Evans’ voice starts to break] I think that's kind of what I’ve strived for my whole life, I feel like… sorry, I'm crying because I'm thinking about it. Oh my gosh, I didn’t think this would happen…

It's been my dream since I was a young girl. I always thought it would be hockey, but I loved lacrosse. It’s such a big part of my life. Being there would be a real dream come true. It gives me goose bumps and chills thinking about it. Being in the moment would be incredible. And I know having my parents there, and my grandma and other family members that would want to come — a lot of them have been a big part of my journey. So that's kind of like the be all, end all.