This article appears in the November edition of USA Lacrosse Magazine. Join USA Lacrosse to start your subscription and help fuel the growth of the sport.
Throughout international lacrosse history, the United States has won more world championships (36) than any other country. Canada is second with 10.
But never has silver tasted so sweet.
The U.S. won bronze at each of the first five World Lacrosse Men’s Box Championships. This year’s team went to Utica, N.Y., with higher expectations than ever before thanks to a combination of experienced National Lacrosse League players and an infusion of young talent.
They delivered, beating the Haudenosaunee for the first time ever — winning both a pool-play game and a dramatic semifinal — and battled Canada tough twice before finishing with the silver medal.
Even after star Tom Schreiber was injured ahead of the championships for the second straight time, the roster was as deep as the U.S. has ever fielded. Nineteen of the 23 players played in the NLL during the 2023-24 season.
The roster included three-time U.S. team players Joe Resetarits, Blaze Riorden and Joel White. Jack Hannah and Danny Logan were named to the 2023 NLL All-Rookie team and current college players CJ Kirst and Joey Spallina made waves playing in Canada’s Ontario Junior Lacrosse League in recent summers.
Head coach Regy Thorpe, a former U.S. player and the head coach in 2019, and the veteran leaders expertly weaved the roster together.
“When I started, I was a wide-eyed 20-year-old kid looking around a little bit starstruck playing with guys like Casey Powell,” Riorden said. “Now I’ve taken more of a leadership role. Looking out of both lenses, the things I learned in 2015 I’m trying to spread throughout this team.”
The youngest player on this year’s roster was just as wide-eyed as Riorden was years ago. But he was ready for the moment.
“I’m just having so much fun to be honest with you,” said Spallina, 21. “This is the most fun lacrosse I’ve ever played.”
Spallina (pictured above) finished second on the team with 14 goals, behind Hannah’s 15, and delivered time and again in clutch moments. He scored three goals in the semifinal win over the Haudenosaunee, including the game-tying goal in the fourth quarter after the U.S. had fallen behind by a pair of goals.
This coming after a summer in which Spallina paced the OJLL with 202 points (not a typo) in 29 games while leading the Orangeville Northmen to the Minto Cup playoffs.
“Joey’s Joey,” Thorpe said of the 21-year-old Syracuse star who figures to be a fixture of the USA box program for years to come. “He’s made for big moments.”
Connor Kirst scored the biggest goal of the tournament for the U.S. — a breakaway with 5:01 left that gave the U.S. a 12-11 lead over the Haudenosaunee in the semifinals.
Gowah Abrams, who was in goal in 2019 when the Haudenosaunee rallied past the U.S. in the semifinal in the final quarter, then made Kirst’s goal stand up by making a save for the ages.
Haudenosaunee’s Lyle Thompson came running right in front of the center of the goal and had a chance to tie the game with under 30 seconds to play. U.S. defender Ryan Terefenko peeled off his man to force Thompson to his right and Abrams deflected Thompson’s shot with his left glove for his 43rd save of the night to preserve the victory.
“This is a great bunch of guys,” Abrams said. “This is the best experience for me. These are memories that will live with me forever.”
That set the stage for Canada in the gold medal game. The U.S. was tied with Canada 8-8 in the third quarter in pool play before Canada pulled away for a 14-10 win.
In the championship, the U.S. trailed by just a goal at the half and would have been tied if not for an amazing save by Canada goalie Christian Del Bianco late in the half. Once again, Canada pulled away, winning the championship 13-7.
In no way did it diminish the progress the U.S. team has made closing the gap in box.
“I’m really proud of not only this team, but teams past that paved the way,” Thorpe said. “There wasn’t really a big player pool in the United States. In field lacrosse, the standard is gold. But in box lacrosse, it hasn’t been the standard because we haven’t had the guys playing. Each year we’ve been getting a lit bit more and we’ve been close.”
Thorpe said the standard now has changed, a sentiment echoed by Ethan O’Connor, who relished the chance to play in 2024 after being injured a month before the 2019 event.
“We’re the first U.S. team to win silver and we’re proud of that, but in that moment in the tournament, you’re disappointed for winning silver,” O’Connor said. “We expect to win gold and I think going forward, that’s the standard. We’re not happy with bronze, we’re not happy with silver anymore and this is the start of putting the rest of the world on notice. Team USA isn’t happy with just medaling. We’re competing for gold.”
