🇺🇸 GOLD MEDAL REMATCH 🇨🇦

So, we meet again…

From the outset, the 2023 World Lacrosse Men’s Championship felt like a collision course between the United States and Canada for the gold medal. On Thursday evening, it became official with the USA and Canada each winning their respective semifinal matchups.

Here’s a look at the updated bracket:

Team USA (6-0) has not lost a single game in this tournament. After a first-round bye in the playoffs, they crushed Israel, 19-3, in the quarterfinal round and cruised past Australia, 11-2, in the semifinals.

Outside of their opening-night loss to the Americans, Team Canada has been almost as dominant. They’ve now won five games in a row, including a 20-1 rout over Jamaica in the quarters and a 12-7 win vs. Haudenosaunee in the semis.

This will be the seventh consecutive World Championship gold medal game between the United States and Canada. These two countries have split the last four titles, including a controversial last-second victory for Team USA in Netanya, Israel in 2018.

The gold medal and bronze medal matchups will both take place on Saturday, July 1. Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter for broadcast information.

⭐️ Brennan O’Neill On The Big Stage

When these two countries met in pool play last week, the United States beat Canada in a slow-paced, 7-5 slugfest. The biggest difference in that game was Brennan O’Neill, who led Team USA with three goals on just four shots.

O’Neill has been a force throughout this tournament, scoring at least one goal in every game except for USA’s win over the Haudenosuanee. The reigning Tewaaraton Award winner may be the only collegiate player on the Team USA roster, but at no point has he looked like an amateur.

The key to his success has been his matchups. Since the USA offense is loaded with professional talent at attack — namely Rob Pannell, Matt Rambo and Kieran McArdle — O’Neill has been running through the box as a midfielder and drawing short-stick matchups.

At 6-2 and 225 lbs., O’Neill is big and strong enough to run through short-stick matchups. Canada will need a stronger defensive game plan against this freak of nature in the gold medal game.

If O’Neill dominates yet again in the gold medal game, his already-meteoric legacy will reach a new level.

🧐 Canadian Secret Weapon?

Since their loss to USA last week, Canada has been winning games with relative ease. Many have wondered whether that means they’re saving a new wrinkle on offense for the gold medal game.

After beating the Haudenosaunee in the semifinals, Canadian midfielder Dhane Smith said that isn’t the case.

“There’s been no saving [plays],” Smith said with a laugh in his postgame interview. “There’s so many talented countries here. It’s pretty cool to see the growth going on, but we know that’s not our end goal here. We have a big finals, and USA is a great team. We’re looking forward to the matchup.”

So, do you believe him? One thing Canada hasn’t done much in this tournament is utilize the two-man game. They have an elite lefty-righty pairing at attack with Jeff Teat and Josh Byrne…breaking that out in the gold-medal game would be a challenging curveball for USA to handle.

Canada has a lot of balanced scorers on their offense. It will be interesting to see how they’re deployed in the final game.

🍿 Haudenosaunee vs. Australia

The bronze medal game between the Haudenosaunee and Australia should be a rousing pregame for USA vs. Canada. The Haudenosaunee have some of the most creative playmakers on the planet, and the Australians might be the grittiest team in this tournament.

When these two teams met in pool play, the Haudenosaunee won by a final score of 10-6. That was the ONLY game in which Austin Staats — who leads all players at the 2023 World Championship with 27 goals — was held without a goal in this tournament.

Although the Haudenosaunee fell to Canada in the semifinal, this scoring play from Austin Staats to his brother Randy was the best moment of the game:

Anytime these two brothers are on the field together, it’s must-watch TV. Also, since Lyle Thompson is not playing in the PLL this summer, this could be the last chance we get to see him play field lacrosse for quite some time.

For those reasons alone, you should probably tune in for this bronze medal matchup.

📺 TV/Streaming Broadcast Info

Here’s when and where you can watch the 2023 World Lacrosse Men’s Championship medal games (Eastern Time/Pacific Time):

Saturday, July 1
4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT — Haudenosaunee vs. Australia (ESPNU)
7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT — USA vs. Canada (ESPN2)

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