Lizzie Colson, Charm defender and world champion, retires from professional lacrosse

Lizzie Colson, the defender who’s repped her home state of Maryland at every possible level, has retired from professional lacrosse.

“I don’t think there’s ever a right time to step away from something you love so much but I think for where my life is headed and my priorities and my health, this just felt like it made sense for me,” Colson said. “I love that I get to walk away on my own terms and it’s not due to anything other than me feeling fulfilled and complete by what I’ve done in the space.”

Colson, 27, captained the Maryland Guard in the inaugural WLL Championship Series in 2025; she was then selected to Team North for that year’s inaugural All-Star Game. Before the launch of the WLL, Colson was chosen in the 2021 Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse College Draft and made AU’s first-ever All-Defensive Team the following season.

Colson competed collegiately at Maryland. For most of her freshman year in 2017, the then-midfielder was just that, a midfielder. But before its Final Four game against Penn State, Maryland lost a starting defender to injury, and coach Cathy Reese and then-defensive coordinator Lauri Kenis — now the associate head coach — filled that gap with the young Colson.

Her impression down low stuck, and when Colson returned to the field the following season for the first team practice — after coming away with the 2017 national championship — Kenis plucked her from the midfield group and told her to join the defensive one. Colson became a quick, aggressive defender who would rise to Tewaaraton Award finalist and Team USA heights.

“At the time, I couldn’t see what it would do for me, but I think my coaches saw it,” Colson said. “I think they could see me going pro, see me making and playing with Team USA. … I think them putting me in that defensive spot just highlighted my strengths on the field. I’m definitely glad I made that jump, and I have so much more respect for defenders and the skill and athleticism it takes to be on that side of the ball.”

In her sophomore season, Colson started 21 of 22 games, all on defense, leading the team in ground balls (39) and caused turnovers (23). As a junior, no inch of turf was safe. Colson’s midfielder background, paired with her competitive edge and speed, helped her again lead the team in ground balls (45) while also adding 127 draw controls — the program’s sixth-best single-season mark — and 25 caused turnovers. For good measure, Colson also tallied a goal and assist en route to another national title.

It was a career-altering year, helping her earn a trip to the mountaintop: an invitation to the U.S. women’s national team training camp.

She was there for three days.

Colson was determined as ever when she arrived at Tierney Field in Baltimore in June 2019. But 72 hours in, she tore her ACL and MCL and sprained her lateral meniscus in her left knee after going for a draw control. As players in USA pinnies looked on, Colson wondered if she’d ever get to don the red, white and blue — or step on to the field competitively — again.

Colson redshirted the COVID-shortened 2020 season due to her injury. As a psychology major who loved to doodle, she turned to journaling to help mentally carry her through recovery. A practice she started as a freshman, Colson was encouraged to journal more intuitively by the program’s sports psychologist. What she was grateful for, how she improved mentally and physically, one thing — anything — she did well that day: all written down. It was a way to disentangle her identity from sport, with her athletic future in flux.

With a clear mind, Colson had a clear goal: get back on the field.

She returned to the Terps in 2021 on a tear. Colson led the nation in caused turnovers (49), the second-best single-season mark in program history. She also nabbed 80 draw controls, Maryland’s 10th highest single-season mark; her 324 career draw controls ranked third all-time. She was third in the nation and first in the Big Ten with 59 ground balls.

Two years after tearing her ACL, Colson returned to Tierney Field, again chasing a Team USA roster spot. Then-Team USA coach Jenny Levy called Colson after two training sessions. She was in. One of 18 players competing for the U.S. in the 2022 World Lacrosse Women’s World Championship. At which the U.S. won, earning gold on home soil.

All of it — transitioning to a new position, the injury, journaling — “completely shaped” who Colson became, she said.

“Every step of the way I was shaped a little bit in one way or another,” Colson said. “My character, my integrity, my discipline, it all comes from being an athlete.”

It also inspired her latest venture, “Celebrate Sm(all) Wins,” a published guided journal designed to help athletes and teams prepare for high-stress scenarios, recognize struggles and appreciate progress. Colson wrote down prompts that helped her in the past and used them often with athletes she consulted for. But she wanted to be able to help more than just the athletes she met one-on-one.

“Most of the work I do with my athletes is strictly in that journal,” Colson said. “… I’m hoping it helps just one athlete feel more confident, or stronger, safe in their space or take their game to the next level.

“Obviously the stat lines are great, national championships and world championships are cool, but really, I want to be remembered as someone who created that space for athletes to excel and feel confident. I want to be thought of as someone who encouraged her teammates to speak up, to find their voice, and that’s what this journal is supposed to do.”