British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) Big Wednesday returns tomorrow with four games of lacrosse across the men’s and women’s competitions in the battle to be crowned National Trophy and Championship winners.
Reigning champions Nottingham take on Exeter in the Women’s Championship final hoping that home advantage will see them retain their crown, while the Nottingham Men will be looking to make it a home double as they play city rivals Nottingham Trent in the Men’s Championship final.
Exeter and Nottingham also meet in the Women’s Trophy final as their 2s teams meet, while Newcastle are also out to retain their title, battling it out against Imperial College London in the Men’s Trophy, which they won last year.
Taking place at the David Ross Sports Village at the University of Nottingham, BUCS Big Wednesday is the culmination of the domestic university cup competitions that started back in January and saw 94 lacrosse teams from around the UK whittled down to just eight finalists.
Seven of the eight finalists featuring at this year’s BUCS Big Wednesday finished top of their league at the end of the 2022-23 season with only Nottingham Trent Men finishing second behind fellow Championship finalists Nottingham.
Each team has proved difficult to beat over the course of the season with five teams (Nottingham Men 1s, Nottingham Women 1s, Newcastle Men 1s, Exeter Women 2s, Nottingham Women 2s) winning all ten of their league fixtures to remain undefeated.
And there’s plenty of international interest in the squads too with over 15 England national team players and coaches involved across the eight squads, including the likes of Dylan Whittington and Emma Savage (Nottingham) Alice Ripper and Anna Neville (Exeter), Josh Poke and Will Shirt (Trent), Ed Loveland and Daniel Madeley (Nottingham) and England senior women’s Head Coach Michael Molster in charge of Exeter.
Both Championship finals will be streamed live on BUCS TV this year with the women’s final starting at 4:30pm and the men’s final facing off at 7pm.
If you are unable to watch the games live, England Lacrosse will be providing updates across social media.
BUCS Big Wednesday Schedule
National Trophy
Women | Exeter 2s v Nottingham 2s | 10am
Men | Newcastle 1s v Imperial College London 1s | 12:30pm
National Championship
Women | Exeter 1s v Nottingham 1s | 4:30pm
Men | Nottingham Trent 1s v Nottingham 1s | 7pm
Roads to the final
National Championship
Exeter women 1s
Quarter Final | Exeter 1s 12-8 Birmingham 1s
Semi-Final | Exeter 1s 9-8 Durham 1s
Nottingham women 1s
Quarter-Final | Nottingham 1s 18-4 Edinburgh 1s
Semi-Final | Nottingham 23-3 Oxford 1s
Nottingham Trent men 1s
Quarter-Final | Nottingham Trent 1s 20-1 Exeter 1s
Semi-Final | Nottingham Trent 1s 19-2 Manchester Metropolitan
Nottingham men 1s
Quarter-Final | Nottingham 1s 17-0 Oxford 1s
Semi-Final | Nottingham 1s 13-5 Durham 1s
National Trophy
Exeter women 2s
Round 1 | Bye
Round 2 | Exeter 2s (walkover) Oxford 2s
Round 3 | Exeter 2s 19-7 Exeter 4s
Quarter-Final | Exeter 2s 9-2 University College London 1s
Semi-Final | Exeter 2s 10-8 Exeter 3s
Nottingham women 2s
Round 1 | Bye
Round 2 | Nottingham 2s 26-2 Manchester Metropolitan 2s
Round 3 | Nottingham 2s 9-8 Liverpool 1s
Quarter-Final | Nottingham 2s 24-5 St Andrews 1s
Semi-Final | Nottingham 2s 7-6 Warwick 1s
Newcastle men 1s
Round 1 | Newcastle 1s 24-1 Lancaster 1s
Round 2 | Newcastle 1s 18-3 Sheffield 1s
Quarter-Final | Newcastle 1s 20-1 York 1s
Semi-Final | Newcastle 1s 16-2 Glasgow 1s
Imperial College London men 1s
Round 1 | Imperial College London 1s 9-4 Bristol 2s
Round 2 | Imperial College London 1s 8-7 Canterbury Christ Church 1s
Quarter-Final | Imperial College London 1s 6-5 Warwick 1s
Semi-Final | Imperial College London 1s 10-4 Kent 1s