OSHAWA, Ontario – A little over a week ago, Michael Sowers was helping lead the Philadelphia Waterdogs to the Premier Lacrosse League championship. Tuesday, Sowers was right back on the field – this time in the sixes environment helping lead the United States to a dominant 33-4 win over Chile in the opening game of the 2026 Pan-American Sixes Lacrosse Championship.
“Dodging shorties as opposed to poles all the time isn’t too bad,” Sowers said.
Sowers and his U.S. teammates just completed a three-day training camp in Buffalo to get ready for the Pan-American championship, where the top five finishers will qualify for next year’s World Lacrosse Sixes Championship in Colorado Springs. It’s provided him an opportunity to reunite with Jim Mitchell, a member of the U.S. staff who was on Princeton’s staff in Sowers final season with the Tigers.
“The PLL championship was special, but I think it’s nice to reset a little bit and come back down to Earth and get back to work at something like this,” Sowers said.
Sowers made his U.S. debut helping the 2016 team win the U19 world championship in Canada and then won another gold medal with the U.S. team in field lacrosse in 2023 in San Diego. After playing in the USA Lacrosse Experience in Indianapolis in 2024, he's back for another run with the sixes program.
"Sometimes I have to pinch myself that I’m still playing at 28 years old, especially wearing the red, white and blue," Sowers said. "It’s always an honor to suit up for USA."
Sowers finished the game with four goals and three assists and was named the game’s Most Valuable Player. Another big scorer for the U.S. was Mikey Weisshaar, a recent Towson grad who was making his international debut and finished with a team-high seven goals.
“It’s amazing,” Weisshaar said. “This is actually my first time out of the country too, so it’s good for both reasons. Playing against another team, another country is just a blessing to wear USA across my chest. I just feel really blessed and excited to get after it this week.”
Weisshaar carried the flag out for the U.S. men’s team on Tuesday evening for the opening ceremonies for the event.
“These guys are the best,” Weisshaar said. “It’s awesome because it’s my first time kind of learning each other’s personalities and getting to know each other, which is amazing.”
After three days of training camp in Buffalo, the cohesion forming amongst the players was evident. The U.S. assisted on 25 of its 33 goals with Andrew McAdorey and Joey Spallina combining for 14 assists. Spallina had a team-high 11 points (4g, 7a) while McAdorey had nine (2g, 7a).
Chile jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the game, but U.S. goalies Logan McNaney and Liam Entenmann quickly locked things down. McNaney played the first half and made eight saves while allowing three goals. Entenmann finished the game, making seven saves while allowing just a single goal.
After an off day on Wednesday, the U.S. continues play against Puerto Rico on Thursday night at 6 pm. The game will be streamed live by World Lacrosse TV.
