In what has to rank because the least stunning sporting end result this yr on the planet of sports activities as we all know it, the US girls’s lacrosse staff wrapped up the gold medal within the 2025 World Video games in Chengdu, China with a 16-8 win over Canada.
The win gave the States a measure of revenge over the Maple Leafs, who beat the US three years in the past on the final World Video games occasion in Birmingham, Ala.
The match and its outcomes have yielded plenty of sizzling takes, which observe under:
Not like three years in the past, the US didn’t carry a second-level aspect to the World Video games. The 2022 World Video games passed off only some days after the World Lacrosse World Championship, and two separate rosters had been shaped for these two tournaments. Canada, alternatively, had plenty of overlap between the 2 tournaments, and their senior discipline lacrosse athletes had been phenomenal within the match.
The outcomes of this competitors are a bit beautiful for me due to the extent of play of among the groups. Australia needed to make an infinite comeback within the final 4 minutes of play to attract stage and get to time beyond regulation.
England, a staff which was one of the best lacrosse nation on the planet 50 years in the past and has at all times been amongst one of the best on the planet, didn’t make the medal spherical this match, a reasonably beautiful improvement.
I feel the one non-North American staff that made the most important impression was Japan. The Suns had the wonderful pair of Negai Nakazawa and Kororo Makazawa, two abilities who’ve honed their abilities on the College of Louisville. They had been actually enjoyable to look at.
When it comes to national-team play, has anybody had a greater current string of outcomes than Charlotte North? She now has a 2022 World Championship winner’s medal, a 2024 World Field Lacrosse championship, and now, a World Video games title within the Sixes self-discipline.
North wasn’t a captain for the U.S. staff, however she was the loudest participant within the huddle throughout timeouts and water breaks. She’s going to be an amazing chief for this U.S. program for so long as she pulls on a U.S. package.
Oh, and she or he had 16 objectives and 13 assists for 29 factors, second on the staff.
Main the U.S. staff in factors, nonetheless, was the veteran captain Marie McCool. She ran wonderful snowbirds over the course of the match, and would rating 20 objectives and 12 assists within the match.
One other participant who excelled on the assault finish for me was the one U.S. participant who didn’t have her identify on the again of her jersey: attacker Ellie Masera. She was the one participant on this World Video games staff who was additionally on the silver medal-winning World Video games aspect from three years in the past, and she or he performed like she was on a mission.
The U.S. aspect was a lacrosse “Dream Group,” which additionally included the present Tewaaraton Trophy winner, Chloe Humphrey. She had 13 objectives for the States on this match, and an unforgettable rating on the finish of the third quarter towards Czechia.
On the play, Taylor Moreno put the ball into play because the clock ticked right down to beneath 10 seconds remaining. She launched an outlet move to McCool, who looped a by means of move to Humphrey, who had her again to the purpose.
With time winding down, McCool lowered the top of the stick and whipped the ball in the direction of the cage between her toes and previous the Czech goalie.
¡Golazo!
The World Video games girls’s Sixes match consisted of 18 video games.
I’ll be blunt right here: most of those had been blowouts. Solely two video games completed with a margin of victory of fewer than 5 objectives. Two.
One in every of them, nonetheless, was a rollercoaster of a match between Japan and Australia for the bronze medal. Japan had a three-goal lead with 4:39 left in regulation, however Australia acquired objectives from mim Suares-Jury, Stephanie Kelly, and Georgia Latch.
Throughout that comeback, Japan had an opportunity to stanch the bleeding with an amazing scoring probability off the stick of Nozomi Tanaka, solely to have the shot waved off, and the umpire reached into the again pocket to tug out a purple card.
You might need seen this earlier than in different types of Sixes play, the place the onus is on the participant to shoot safely, as there isn’t any shooting-space name in Olympic guidelines. However this was a crucial name, one which gave Australia a two-minute energy play with 2:01 left in regulation.
That was compounded by the truth that Negai Nazakawa was given a inexperienced card within the ultimate seconds of regulation. The ensuing energy play, main into time beyond regulation, resulted in Latch’s purpose that received the bronze for Group Koala.
The Tanaka purple card wasn’t the one one within the medal spherical. Canada, within the second minute of play of the gold-medal match, noticed ahead Jordan Dean despatched off for hitting a U.S. participant with a shot at purpose. In a match with solely 12 gamers on a roster, dropping a participant for the remainder of the sport is, for me, a harsh, if not Draconian, flip of occasions.
Perhaps this can be a rule that World Lacrosse wants to look at within the years earlier than the Olympics?
