July 18 update: Jamaica and Puerto Rico have clinched spots at the 2023 World Lacrosse Men’s Championship. Both teams picked up two wins in the first two days of the competition to clinch the top spot in their groups and a berth in the qualifier semifinals on Thursday, July 21. Jamaica defeated Colombia, 7-1, on Sunday and the U.S. Virgin Islands, 5-4, on Monday. Puerto Rico picked up a 10-5 win over Mexico on Sunday and a 17-3 win over Peru on Monday.
MEDELLÍN, Colombia – The road to San Diego 2023 continues today, as the 2022 Pan-American Lacrosse Association Men’s World Qualifier kicks off here at the Atanasio Girardot Sports Center, running through Friday, July 22. Six countries – Colombia, Jamaica, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands – will be competing, with five of the teams eligible to secure the four spots up for grabs in next year’s world championship.
The four successful teams will join 21 countries that have already earned their spots in San Diego, including three automatic qualifiers from the Americas by way of their top-10 finishes at the 2018 championship (Canada, Haudenosaunee and the United States).
The PALA Qualifier features five teams that competed in the last men’s championship – Puerto Rico (8), Jamaica (13), Mexico (38), Peru (39), Colombia (45) – which are vying for four spots in 2023 to compete among the world’s top 30 teams. The U.S. Virgin Islands is not eligible for qualification due to the timing of the start of its membership with World Lacrosse.
Puerto Rico enters as a favorite, only missing automatic qualification due to not being a Full Member of World Lacrosse during the 2018 Men’s Championship when Associate Members were still permitted to compete at senior-level world championship events.
PALA Interim President Ann Kitt Carpenetti said: “We’re looking forward to a great competition among some of the Americas’ best men’s lacrosse teams, including two that were in the top 15 at the last world championship. We’re now up to 20 members in PALA, and continue to grow every day. Thank you to Colombia Lacrosse for hosting this important competition in beautiful Medellín, and we look forward to a great week.”
Teams have been seeded into two groups for three days of round-robin play. The top team from each group will earn a bye in the quarterfinals, while the second seed from Group A will play the third seed from Group B, and vice versa. The top seeds will then face the quarterfinal winners in the semifinals, before gold- and bronze-medal games take place on the final day of play.
Ties in pool play standings will be broken following World Lacrosse rules, as outlined here.
Following the PALA Qualifier, five additional spots will remain in the 2023 Men’s Championship, which will be determined at the Asia Pacific Lacrosse Union Qualifier October 3-8 in Seogwipo, South Korea (four spots) and at a to-be-announced Africa qualifier (one spot). The previous world championship rankings determined the number of allocation spots awarded to each Continental Federation.
All 13 games of the 2022 PALA Qualifier will be streamed live via Colombia Lacrosse’s YouTube channel. Additional information can be found on the event’s Instagram page: @palaqualifiers2022.
A full schedule can be found here:
