U.S. team veteran Marie McCool was named the Most Valuable Player of the lacrosse competition at The World Games in Chengdu, China after leading the U.S. to a perfect 5-0 record, including a 16-8 win over Canada in the gold medal game.
It was the second World Games gold medal for McCool, who was the youngest member of the U.S. team that won the 2017 World Games title in Wroclaw, Poland. McCool has also won a pair of World Lacrosse championships in the U.S. team system – in 2017 in Guildford, England and in 2022 in Towson, Md.
McCool, whose grandparents both grew up in China, led this year’s tournament with 20 goals and 32 points, including a game-high six-point effort in the championship game against Canada with two goals and four assists. McCool, who also led the U.S. with eight points (6g, 2a) in its semifinal win over Japan, had at least five points in all five games in the tournament. She shot a blistering 66.7 percent with her 20 goals coming on just 30 shots.
McCool was joined on the All-World team by two of her U.S. teammates – Shea Dolce and Charlotte North.
Dolce started all five games in goal for the U.S. and made 38 saves while allowing 26 goals for a 59.4 save percentage, the highest of any goalie in the tournament. Dolce made 11 saves while allowing just four goals (73.3 save percentage) in one half of play in the championship game victory over Canada.
North, who also made the all-tournament team earlier this summer in leading the U.S. to the Pan-American Championship in field lacrosse, finished second in the tournament with 29 points. North had 16 goal and 13 assists in the tournament and shot 5-for-5 in a pool play win over Ireland and had a 10-point effort against Czechia.
The U.S. trio was joined on the all-tournament team by Canada’s Erica Evans and Brooklyn Walker-Welch and Australia’s Georgia Latch.
