A Special Bond: Goalies Dolce, Moreno Lean on Each Other in China

CHENGDU, China — Japan’s Monika Jones barreled toward the cage from the left side of the crease, throwing multiple fakes before firing at U.S. Women’s Sixes National Team goalie Taylor Moreno with 13 seconds remaining in Sunday’s The World Games semifinal.

The U.S. was on its way to another dominant win, but Moreno wasn’t going to let her guard down in the game’s final seconds. She matched Jones’ stick as she glided across the crease, raising her stick to make an acrobatic save to stymie Japan once again.

As Moreno fired the ball upfield, a scream rang out from the U.S. bench. 

“Hell yeah, Taylor!” fellow U.S. goalie Shea Dolce said. “Hell yeah!”

Dolce finished the first half with eight saves, halting any momentum Japan could muster against the U.S. She gave way to Moreno in the second — a cycle that has repeated in each of the first four games of the tournament. 

When either is on the bench, they contribute in other ways, cheering for each save and being the first person to meet one another after timeouts. 

“I’m trying to be the biggest supporter, best teammate and personal hype woman I can be,” Dolce said. 

“It pumps me up when I see her make a save,” Moreno said. “I have to be her biggest cheerleader because at the end of the day, Sixes is such a fast game, you get scored on whether you like it or not. Having that person on the sideline who knows how that feels, it’s so helpful.”

Together, two of the best goalies in the world made 14 saves to help lead the U.S. to the 24-10 victory and advance to Monday’s gold medal game against Canada.

In the Sixes discipline, and at The World Games, many teams opt to carry one goalie, allowing for another field player. U.S. coach Lindsey Munday went with Dolce and Moreno, and she has no regrets.

“Because our goalies are so good,” Munday said about why she chose two goalies. “We had to take two because we have the best goalies in the world. We want to be able to give teams different looks.”

Moreno said that she thinks having another goalie around has been a huge benefit.

“In this situation, a lot of teams only brought one goalie,” she said. “I can only imagine how isolating that could feel. To warm up and have our practices together and share reps with someone who plays your position, it’s special.”

Dolce and Moreno have spent a considerable amount of time taking turns in the U.S. cage over the past two years. They’ve come a long way from the fields at Green Farms Academy (Connecticut) in 2018.

Dolce, then a talented goalie out of Darien High School, attended a camp that featured Moreno as a clinician. Then a sophomore at North Carolina, Moreno helped teach Dolce some of her tricks of the trade, not knowing then the journey they had just begun.

“She was exactly how she is now — super bubbly, super talkative and eager to learn and get better,” Moreno said.

Since that moment, Moreno and Dolce have followed similar trajectories en route to The World Games this summer.

Moreno graduated from North Carolina in 2022 as the program’s all-time leader in saves (667), helping the Tar Heels win a national championship in 2022. She transitioned perfectly into professional lacrosse, winning back-to-back Athletes Unlimited titles in 2022 and 2023.

She has spent time on the U.S. Women’s Training Team for the past three years and took home gold as part of the first-ever U.S. Women’s Box Team to compete at a world championship.

Dolce won a national championship with Boston College, making a legendary save to seal the 2024 NCAA title. She also took home a gold medal as the starting goalie for the U.S. U20 Nationl Team last summer in Hong Kong, China.

She made her first official senior team appearance at the Pan-American Lacrosse Association championship, playing alongside Moreno and winning the gold medal.

Moreno and Dolce headed to Chengdu as women’s lacrosse’s most accomplished active goalies. But when they’re together, they are simply friends.

“It’s a special duo,” Dolce said, smiling. “I watched Taylor growing up, so it's incredible to be able to share the field with her. I learn day in and day out from her.”

They have a unique task at hand during The World Games — to anchor a defense that does not feature a pure field defender. Munday’s roster features attackers and two-way middies, allowing for Dolce and Moreno to help make sure the defensive unit stays organized.

So far, the two U.S. defense have been impressed by the progress shown by stars like Izzy Scane, Ally Kennedy, Cassidy Weeks and Ally Mastroianni.

“It’s about being a strong voice behind them so that they know that everyone’s got their back and that they can take risks,” Moreno said. “As long as we can make sure that everyone on the field feels confident, I think that’s where we’re playing our best.”

The U.S. will look toward Dolce and Moreno even more during Monday’s gold medal game, where they will face off with Canada, which has swept through its first four games with a goal differential of plus-61.

For a duo that has accomplished plenty in their careers, a gold medal would only elevate their status in the upper echelon of lacrosse goalies. Above all, though, both said they are grateful to have met one another.

“There’s no bad blood, ever,” Moreno said. “Well, except for when UNC plays BC.”