The United States will go for a record fifth straight world championship after beating Israel 19-7 in the semifinal round of the 2026 Nissin Foods World Lacrosse Women’s Championship in Tokyo on Friday. The U.S. will meet Canada in Sunday’s gold medal game after Canada knocked off the Haudenosaunee Nationals 18-5 in Friday’s other semifinal.
The U.S. women faced their biggest test to date in the tournament, but used two big runs to pull away from Israel.
With the game tied 3-3 in the first quarter, Israel had the ball on a clear attempt, but turned it over and Ally Kennedy picked up the loose ball and brought it home for the go-ahead goal that gave the U.S. a 4-3 lead through one quarter of play.
The U.S. then scored six straight goals to open the second quarter before Israel scored late in the half to stop the run and cut the lead to 10-4 at the half.
Goals by Shira Parower and Sam Fisher in the opening three minutes of the second half brought Israel back to within 10-6, but the U.S. slowly began to assert its dominance. Kenzie Kent scored midway through the third quarter and Madison Taylor then added a goal with eight seconds left in the frame to give the U.S. a 12-6 advantage.
The fourth quarter was all USA with the Americans eventually stretching the scoring run to nine straight goals before Israel’s Shelby Sullivan closed out the scoring with 18 seconds left in the game.
Taylor, this year’s Tewaaraton winner who led Northwestern to the NCAA championship, led the U.S. with five goals and added an assist. Eliza Osburn and Emma LoPinto each added hat tricks while Kenzie Kent and Kennedy scored twice each.
Jordyn Lipkin, the leading scorer in the tournament, paced Israel with three goals while Israel goalies Julie Krupnick and Orly Sedransk combined to make 11 saves.
The U.S. will face a familiar foe in the championship game as this marks the fourth consecutive World Lacrosse championship to feature the two neighbors in the final.
The U.S., which has now won 35 consecutive games in event history dating back to 2009, will attempt to become the first team to win five consecutive titles. The U.S. beat Australia in the 2009 final and has since beaten Canada in the 2013, 2017 and 2022 championships. The U.S. also won four straight titles from 1989 to 2001 before Australia defeated the U.S. in the 2005 championship game.
Sunday’s final will be played at 7 p.m. Tokyo time (6 a.m. Eastern) and the game will be streamed live on World Lacrosse TV. The bronze medal game (4 p.m. local, 3 a.m. Eastern) will feature the Haudenosaunee Nationals against Israel. The winner of that game will medal for the first time at the women’s world championship in their nation’s history.
