Israel Lacrosse has named the 20-woman roster that will represent the country at the 2024 Women’s European Lacrosse Championship this July 10-20 in Braga, Portugal.
This is the first event of its kind since Israel hosted the 2019 iteration. In Netanya five years ago, the home team won two games in the knockout portion of the tournament and reached its first-ever continental championship contest. Now, the Israelis are excited and hungry for the opportunity to measure themselves up against the best Europe has to offer.
Portugal will welcome 18 teams from across the federation – the nation’s largest organized lacrosse event ever and a debut for its women’s program in international competition – to determine the next European champion.
The team was selected based on ability, commitment to Israel Lacrosse Youth Development/Programming, and alignment with team culture and identity. The following 20 will don the Blue-and-White in Braga:
2024 Women’s European Lacrosse Championship Roster
| NUMBER | NAME | POSITION |
| 1 | Emily Wesoky | ATK |
| 2 | Batel Elkalay | MID |
| 3 | Jackie Stoller | ATK/MID |
| 4 | Roni Zilberman | MID |
| 5 | Racheli Levy Smith | MID |
| 6 | Kelly Layton | GK |
| 8 | Abby Stoller | ATK |
| 9 | Elizabeth Joffrey | DEF |
| 10 | Liel Hodara | MID |
| 12 | Rachel Rosenberg | DEF |
| 13 | Grace Burns | DEF |
| 16 | Talya Shnit | MID |
| 18 | Lindsay Epstein | MID |
| 20 | Annabelle Gersch | MID |
| 21 | Jordyn Lipkin | ATK/MID |
| 22 | Lilly Stoller | DEF |
| 23 | Zoe Martin | ATK/MID |
| 25 | Hanna Hillcoff | ATK |
| 26 | Rachel Rosen | ATK |
| 29 | Shirin Atedgi | MID |
| 30 | Julie Krupnick | GK |
| 34 | Olivia Mannon | DEF/MID |
Coaching Staff
Head coach Sophie Bass and assistant coach Claire Rosenberg will lead the Israelis in Portugal.
Bass is in her first year in charge of the Israeli women’s national team after gaining the role in August 2023. This is also her inaugural season as the head women’s lacrosse coach at Widener University. She has a wealth of coaching experience under her belt, though – Bass is in her fifth campaign overall at Widener after joining the staff in 2019 and has had multiple stints as the interim boss over the last half-decade. Prior to coaching, the Westfield, New Jersey-native was a star midfielder at Albright College, achieving All-MAC Commonwealth First Team nods as a junior and senior and an honorable mention as a sophomore. By graduation, Bass held program records in career points (242), career assists (77), single-season points (91), single-season assists (41). She began her involvement with Israel Lacrosse in 2017.
Rosenberg was named Head of Women’s Coaching in 2022 and has been a fixture of the program since. Before moving to Israel for the position, Rosenberg completed her master’s in sports management at Illinois State and served as a graduate assistant coach for the Illinois Wesleyan women’s lacrosse team. While on the staff, the Titans reached back-to-back Sweet 16s, a feat never previous attained at Illinois Wesleyan. As an undergrad, Rosenberg was a four-year starting attacker for Berry College and was a three-time All-Southern Athletic Association selection.
Hannah Berg will join Bass, Rosenberg, and the squad in Portugal as the team’s athletic trainer. Berg has been with the program for a numbers of years and travelled to countless events across the world with Israel Lacrosse, including the 2019 European Championship. She also works at Boston College with the women’s basketball team.
Our Goals
Israel aims to continue the momentum it built in the years since coming second at the 2019 European Lacrosse Championship. At the 2022 World Championship in Towson, Maryland, the team nabbed sixth place, matching its best-ever result at the event. Later that same summer at the 2022 World Games in Birmingham, Alabama, the Israelis finished in fifth. Israel enters Portugal as the No. 2 ranked team in Europe.
After the tournament, we will bring our experiences in Portugal back with us to Israel to better spread lacrosse, empower as many Israeli women and girls as possible to pick up a stick, and nurture the next generation of athletes who will represent our country at international events.
To support the Israeli Women’s National Team directly, click here. You can find more information about the Israel women’s lacrosse program and the ILA as a whole here.