The United States is headed to the championship game of The World Games 2025 following a 24-10 victory over Japan in the semifinals on Sunday in Chengdu, China. It’s the third straight World Games final for the U.S.
The U.S. beat Canada 11-8 in the 2017 final in Wroclaw, Poland in a 10v10 field version of the sport, but lost to Canada 14-12 in 2022 using the sixes discipline, which is in play for these World Games and will be the format of the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Since the formation of World Lacrosse (and its predecessor organizations) in 1982, the United States has appeared in the championship game of every major international women’s tournament – a streak that has now stretched to 23 consecutive championships. The total includes 11 World Lacrosse senior championship games, eight World Lacrosse junior championship games, one World Lacrosse box championship and now three World Games.
Japan has been on its own run of unprecedented success in recent international lacrosse events, dating back to its men’s team winning the bronze in sixes at The World Games in 2022. Japan’s women’s program won its first medal ever, earning the bronze at the 2024 World Lacrosse Women’s U20 Championship.
Its senior women’s team put itself in medal contention with an upset over Great Britain at this edition of The World Games, but the U.S. was extra sharp in the early going to put away any hopes of another upset. The U.S. scored on its first four shots, and Japan’s first six possessions resulted in three Shea Dolce saves, two turnovers and a shot clock violation.
Japan answered the call, scoring three straight goals to pull within a goal, but Ally Mastroianni flipped momentum back to the U.S. with two goals in the final 39 seconds of the first quarter to give the U.S. a 6-3 lead after the opening eight minutes.
Japan scored first to open the second quarter, but the U.S. quickly gained control of the game. Dolce made eight first half saves as the U.S. moved out 13-6 at the half as the game turned into the Marie McCool show. McCool, who grandparents both grew up in China, led the U.S. with eight points on six goals and two assists. She scored three straight for the U.S. in the second quarter.
The U.S. shot over 50 percent in the game, connecting on 24 of 46 shots and Charlotte North and Izzy Scane each scored four times. Taylor Moreno helped close out the game making six second-half saves.
The U.S. will meet Canada in the championship. The championship game will begin at 11:30 p.m. (Eastern time) on Sunday night, which is 11:30 a.m. on Monday morning in China. The game will be streamed live on World Lacrosse TV.
Semifinal Results
United States 24, Japan 10
Canada 21, Australia 4
5th place game: Great Britain 20, Czechia 11
7th place game: Ireland 19, China 5
