Canada Stuns U.S. With Late Rally to Win Pan-American Championship

Alex Simmons scored twice in the final 1:32 to lift Canada to a 9-8 victory over the reigning world champion United States in the Pan-American Men’s Lacrosse Championship final Sunday at Stadium East in Kingston, Jamaica.

Led by the sharp shooting of Josh Yago (three goals) and the stellar goalie play of Anderson Moore (15 saves), the U.S. held an 8-5 lead going into the fourth quarter.

But Owen Hiltz and Sam English scored just 40 seconds apart to pull Canada within one. Then Simmons buried a feed from Thomas McConvey to tie the game at 8.

It looked like it might go to overtime when a Jake Stevens pass intended for English sailed past his stick. But Simmons collected the errant pass off the bounce on the doorstep, faked a low shot and dunked it over Moore for the game-winning goal with 10 seconds left.

“We kind of got down on ourselves early. Our coaches reassured us, one play at a time. It’s not necessarily how we score but when we score,” Simmons said afterward on World Lacrosse TV. “Their goalie made some great saves early in the game and kind of got in our heads. But we stuck with it and we were fortunate to bury those at the end.”

“A little bit of luck,” Simmons added of his game-winner. “Jake tried to make that pass there on the inside and it just happened to be at my feet. Sometimes luck, sometimes effort and it worked out for us in the end.”

Canada’s Jack Oldman won all six fourth-quarter faceoffs to fuel the comeback and ensured the U.S. would not get a chance to tie it in the final seconds. He finished 13-for-20 against the U.S. duo of Andrew McMeekin (3-for-10) and Luke Wierman (4-for-10).

Simmons led all scorers with four goals and added an assist, factoring in five of Canada’s eight goals. Goalie Chase Strychaluk came on in relief of starter Drake Porter and made six saves in the second half.

The U.S. led for most of the game and took its largest lead when Jackson Eicher dragged a short-stick matchup to the left wing, posted up and shot a laser off his back foot to make it 8-5 with 3:22 remaining in the third quarter.

However, the U.S. managed just three more shots on goal the rest of the game. Canada’s comeback spoiled a spectacular defensive effort spearheaded by close defensemen Shawn Lyght and Kenny Brower as well as the short-stick foursome of Kyle Bergen, Blake Eiland, Aidan Maguire and Ben Ramsey.

Bergen, Lyght and Moore all played for the U.S. Men’s U20 National Team whose world championship streak Canada ended last year in Jeju, South Korea. They were key components in the mix of college and professional players USA Lacrosse sent to Jamaica for this event, a continental qualifier for the 2027 World Lacrosse Men’s Championship in Tokyo.

Both Canada and the United States clinched spots, as did the Haudenosaunee, host Jamaica and Puerto Rico.

The Haudenosaunee toppled Jamaica 16-9 in the bronze medal game Sunday. Puerto Rico edged Mexico 9-8 in an OT thriller Saturday to punch their ticket to next summer’s world championship, the journey to which U.S. head coach Seth Tierney emphasized afterward.

“There are a bunch of guys back home who were pulling for these guys. We’ll see what the next group looks like,” Tierney said. “The guys we brought were young, but they got a taste of international lacrosse. That will pay dividends for years to come.”