Pictured: Jesse Bernhardt anchored a stout defensive effort with four caused turnovers and three ground balls.
SAN DIEGO — Matt Rambo paced nine different scorers with two goals and two assists, as the United States defeated Australia 12-3 in World Lacrosse Men’s Championship pool play Friday night at the University of San Diego’s Torero Stadium.
After grinding out a 7-5 win over Canada in the world championship opener Wednesday, the U.S. (2-0) unleashed its offense in the first quarter with a five-goal flurry. Kieran McArdle punctuated the run, finishing a Rob Pannell feed in front after a series of quick passes.
The U.S. capitalized on some more crisp passing in the second quarter, including an extra-man sequence in which Tom Schreiber hit McArdle with a look-away feed and McArdle tossed it behind the back to Rambo for another dunk on the doorstep.
Up 10-2 at halftime, the U.S. looked poised to run away with the game. But Australia (1-1) clamped down in the second half, limiting the Americans to just two goals to stay within striking distance. Goalie Ryan Spark made 11 saves for Australia.
“You’ve got to give a lot of credit to the Australians. Those kids played their tails off,” head coach John Danowski said. “I thought we got a little selfish in the second half. We were trying to run by people and we couldn’t. They did a really good job defensively.”
The U.S. defense was just as good. Defenseman Jesse Bernhardt anchored the effort with four caused turnovers and three ground balls.
“Defensively, we were really solid certainly on Wednesday. We were solid again tonight,” Danowski said. “We gave up one man-down goal. We gave up two goals six-on-six in 60 minutes. That really bodes well for the future.”
Pannell had a goal and two assists for the U.S., while Schreiber and Michael Sowers contributed two goals apiece. TD Ierlan (6-for-8) and Trevor Baptiste (5-for-9) combined to go 11-for-17 on faceoffs, as Australia consistently looked to lock up the two U.S. aces.
The U.S. continues pool play Saturday against the Haudenosaunee, who are also 2-0. Opening faceoff at Torero Stadium is 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT (ESPN+).
