Law Brings Order to USA's Win over Puerto Rico at Pan-American Championship

United States head coach Seth Tierney knew he was going to have a younger squad representing the country at the Pan-American Men’s Lacrosse Championship in Jamaica, so he picked up the phone and made a few calls to lock in a veteran presence for the team.

One of those calls was to Eric Law, the longtime pro star who had retired from the Premier Lacrosse League following the 2025 season. The call paid immediate dividends when Law scored the first USA goal and finished with five goals and two assists as the USA opened the continental qualifier for next summer’s World Championship with a 23-5 victory over Puerto Rico.

“It’s been a whirlwind,” said Law, who was a member of the U.S. training team ahead of the 2014 world championship, played 13 years of professional lacrosse and was Major League Lacrosse’s Offensive Player of the Year in 2017. “Getting a phone call and asking if I wanted to come play in this a couple of months ago, it’s a no brainer. The opportunity to come represent your country, there’s no higher honor than to be able to do that. It’s an easy yes to come out and what a beautiful place to come play lacrosse.”

Law wasn't the only veteran that Tierney reached out to. He also contacted his son, Ryan, a member of the 2022 U.S. sixes national team that won silver at The World Games. The younger Tierney, who previously played for his dad at Hofstra, had a hat trick against Puerto Rico.

The younger players on the USA roster more than held up their end of the bargain as well. Princeton’s Chad Palumbo and Notre Dame’s Josh Yago, who went head-to-head in the NCAA championship game this spring, each had five points with Palumbo netting two goals and three assists and Yago scoring three goals with two assists.

Army’s Jackson Eicher, one of three service academy graduates on the team along with Evan Plunkett (Army) and Yago (Air Force), carried out the flag before the game and added four goals.

In addition to its powerful offense, the U.S. got strong efforts in two critical spots, goaltending and faceoffs.

Anderson Moore, who last wore a USA uniform last summer in the U20’s team heartbreaking 6-5 loss to Canada in the U20 world championshp game in Korea, made seven first half saves while allowing just one goal. Colin Kirst came on in the second half and made six saves, four of them in the fourth quarter.

Faceoff specialists Andrew McMeekin and Luke Wierman split duties and each won 13 of 16.

The U.S. continues pool play on Wednesday against host Jamaica (6 pm local/7 pm EDT, streaming on World Lacrosse TV) in the nine-team tournament. The top five finishers will earn berth’s to next summer’s world championship in Tokyo.

Another game provides another opportunity for Law to demonstrate leadership for a team that had not competed together before arriving in Jamaica on Monday. The 35-year-old has embraced his role.

“There’s a couple of guys I think I’m 15 years older than,” Law said. “I think a couple of them are closer in age to my son than they are to me. But I’m just trying to take that in hand, knowing that I’m the older guy, trying to be a vocal leader on the field and just trying to get guys in the right spots. It’s so fun to meet different guys in the community. They’re young and eager and I’m going to riding their coattails the rest of the tournament.”