The United States finished its dominant week in Chengdu with the gold medal after a resounding 16-8 win over Canada to cap the women’s sixes competition at The World Games 2025 in Chengdu.
The United States avenged its 14-12 loss to Canada in women’s sixes in 2022 at The World Games in Birmingham, Alabama and reclaimed its spot as the foremost women’s international program, now holding world championships in field, women’s and box lacrosse. The United States claimed the inaugural World Lacrosse Women’s Box Championship in 2024, and the most recent Women’s Championship in 2022, its fourth in a row.
“We’re just really proud,” said Marie McCool of the United States. “To see how quickly we all came together and build that chemistry and connected with each other was just incredible. It was an amazing experience to be a part of and we’re just really proud for each other.”
The United States connectivity and dazzling display of superstar talent was on display yet again in Monday’s final. The Americans raced out to a seven goal first quarter to set the tone with their relentlessness and then held Canada to just one goal in each of the second and third quarters en-route to a comfortable eight-goal win.
“With the United Sates, everybody talks about how we have so much talent and you can put anyone on this team but I think with sixes it is a lot more than, you have to be connected,” said McCool. “You have to be selfless, and you need to be able to play together, and that’s something we just fully embodied from the start. It’s something, it a word that just kept coming up that resonated with us.”
Five players recorded four or more points in the final, led by McCool with two goals and four assists. McCool finished with a total of 32 points in five games, a tournament-high, and was named the Most Valuable Player of the competition. Cassidy Weeks, Kenzie Kent and Sam Apuzzo all stepped in the final with five points each.
McCool also landed on the World Team, honoring the top six athletes in the competition, alongside teammates Charlotte North and Shea Dolce. North finished with the second-most points in the tournament with 29 on 16 goals and 13 assists and had three points in the final.
Dolce’s goalkeeping was crucial in building the United States’ early lead, and she made 11 saves on 15 shots faced at a 73% clip in the first half that ended 10-4 in the Americans’ favor. Dolce finished with 38 saves in five games with a 59% save percentage.
Canada took home its second silver medal at The World Games after 2017, to go with its six senior women’s medals outside of the The World Games. Canada finished in second at the 2024 Women’s Box Championship and has three silver medals at the Women’s Championship as well as two bronze medals.
Erica Evans landed on the World Team as did Brooklyn Walker-Welch for Canada. Evans had 26 points for Canada with 17 goals and nine assists and was its key attacking fulcrum.
Walker-Welch was one of the best two-way players in the tournament with impressive defensive coverage, to go along with five goals and six assists.
Gallery
Marie McCool
2 goals, 4 assists
Tournament-high 32 points Total
