01/27/2010 - Duke Sports Information

CHARLOTTE, N.C. and BALTIMORE - ESPNU and US Lacrosse have announced that the sports network will air the U.S. men's national team vs. Duke and the U.S. women's national team vs. Duke games, part of the 2010 Champion Challenge at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The U.S. men's national team game will air on Jan. 31 at 10 p.m. with an encore presentation on Feb. 2 at 4 p.m. The U.S. women's national team game will air on Feb. 1 at 12 a.m. with a re-air on Feb. 2 at 2 p.m.

The fifth annual Champion Challenge will take place Jan. 30 - 31. The event, organized by US Lacrosse and sponsored by Champion Athleticwear, will feature the U.S. men's and women's national lacrosse teams as well as Duke University men's and women's teams, the United States Military Academy's men's team, the University of Notre Dame and University of Florida women's program.

"US Lacrosse is dedicated to bringing more lacrosse to television and we're pleased that ESPNU will air two Team USA games," said Bill Schoonmaker, US Lacrosse's chief operating officer. "The U.S. national teams feature the best men's and women's lacrosse players in the world and the Duke men's and women's teams are two of the best college lacrosse programs in the country. These will be two very exciting match-ups."

US Lacrosse is the national governing body for men's and women's lacrosse, and is the parent organization of the U.S. men's and women's national lacrosse teams. Warrior Lacrosse is the official exclusive equipment and apparel supplier to the U.S. men's national teams program. deBeer Lacrosse is the official exclusive equipment and apparel supplier to the U.S. women's national teams program.

The U.S. men's national team will faceoff against Duke (Jan. 31, 1:00 p.m.) and the United States Military Academy in Team USA's first time playing together since the 23-man U.S. team roster was announced on Nov. 2. This is the second time Team USA and Duke will have faced each other in the Champion Challenge. Duke played the U.S. team in 2008's event.

On the women's side, the U.S. elite team and the U.S. developmental team will both be at Disney's Wide World of Sports, taking on Duke, Notre Dame and Florida. Duke is scheduled to play the U.S. developmental team at 8:45 a.m. on Jan. 31, followed by a game against the U.S. elite team at 11:00 a.m. The U.S. women's team program is coming off a gold-medal World Cup victory in Prague last July. This is the second year in a row Duke and the U.S. women's national team will have played each other in the Champion Challenge event.

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