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AUBURNDALE, Fla. – Moments after receiving the trophy for capturing for inaugural Pan-American Women’s Lacrosse Championship, head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein pulled her USA team together and said, “This is just the beginning.”
A 21-11 victory over rival Canada was an important step towards next summer’s World Lacrosse Women’s Championship in Tokyo, showing the coaching staff some of the many strengths the team has, but also what they have to work on.
“I think we have a lot of work to do, but I’m so proud of how I think the team evolved as friends and a unit,” Walker-Weinstein said. “They actually came together a little bit more, which is the point of these things. You spend so much time together and I’m really proud of how they turned up the intensity for this last game, which we were asking to them to do — to play from start to finish. And they did.”
The U.S. players all spent four days at USA Lacrosse headquarters two weeks ago for an intense training camp and then played five games in five days in the Florida heat. It’s time that helped them sharpen their skills as they faced their first international competition since Walker-Weinstein was named the coach last April.
“This one’s special because of the hard work that’s gone into it,” said Ally Kennedy, who had two goals in the win over Canada. “We were a group that came together from a bunch of training camps that hadn’t really played against other competition, so I feel like we got better every game that we played. This is the best lacrosse we’ve played so far and I’m excited for the future.”
Kennedy was one of six players that won the most recent women’s field world championship in 2022, giving the U.S. a relatively inexperienced roster compared to Canada, which brought 12 players from 2022 to the Pan-American championship. Three of the U.S. veterans – Kennedy, Marie McCool and Ally Mastroianni – scored their team’s first three goals of the game to help everyone settle in.
“In 2022 you had players like Taylor Cummings, Kayla Treanor who knew what to do in those moments … it was our time to step up and pave the way, which I feel like we did,” Kennedy said. “That gave everyone else the green light to show that we’re a talented group and everyone is a threat when they have the ball.”
Talent is an understatement.
How loaded is this U.S. team? The U.S. jumped out to an 11-5 halftime lead when Walker-Weinstein went to her bench for the second half and brought out a second group of attackers. The second half group merely consisted of Rachel Clark, Charlotte North and Izzy Scane, three players that combined to score 1,045 goals in their college careers.
“My husband keeps joking that it’s like the movie Space Jam,” Walker-Weinstein said. “You stop one crop and then you get a whole another crop. I actually thought they did an amazing job. They’re all exciting individually and I think they’re coming together as a unit.”
Walker-Weinstein has said from the jump that she wants to continue raising the bar for women’s lacrosse around the globe through this team and her roster is doing just that.
“It's so good for the game to have the depth of talent that we have,” she said.
Growing up, you watch these players and you see it’s the pinnacle of lacrosse. Being able to be here in the moment is really just unbelievable and a dream come true.
Sydney Scales
The established stars are helping to bring along another group of rising stars as well.
Anna Brandt finished her career this past spring as Penn’s all-time leading goal scorer. Now she’s showing her game translates to the next level. She had a pair of goals in Monday’s championship win.
“I’ve learned so much,” Brandt said. “I think that’s the biggest thing. Playing the game I love alongside everyone that is so encouraging and helpful. There are so many girls here with so many different talents and the coaches are just incredible. They’ve really helped me so much. I think I’ve grown so much, we’ve grown so much as a team. It’s still exciting to think this is really just the beginning.”
The excitement comes from the unique honor of representing your country and playing alongside the best in the sport.
“Growing up, you watch these players and you see it’s the pinnacle of lacrosse,” said Sydney Scales, a 2024 Boston College graduate who earned all-tournament honors on defense at the Pan-American championship. “Being able to be here in the moment is really just unbelievable and a dream come true. It’s something I’m so grateful for and I’ll never take for granted.”
“It’s surreal, unlike any other feeling I’ve ever felt,” Brandt said. “I love this sport, I’ve grown up with it, so to be able to do what I love and represent the country that I love is a dream come true. It’s the biggest honor. Every time I get to put on this uniform, I’m so grateful and feel so blessed to be around the most incredible people.”
Brian Logue has worked at USA Lacrosse since 2000 and is currently the senior director of communications. He saw his first lacrosse game in 1987 - Virginia at Delaware - and fell in love with the sport while working at Washington and Lee University.
