US Men Open with two wins at USA Lacrosse Experience

INDIANAPOLIS – The road to the Olympics began with two victories for the United States men’s six-man team at the inaugural USA Lacrosse Experience. The U.S. played its first six-man international competition since last year’s announcement that the sport would be included in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, defeating Colombia 25-7 and Puerto Rico 18-6.

The U.S. men will conclude international competition at Saturday night’s 8 p.m. event against Great Britain at Carroll Stadium on the campus of Indiana University in Indianapolis. Tickets are still available and all games will be streamed on the USA Lacrosse YouTube channel.

In Friday’s other games, Puerto Rico edged Great Britain 16-14, while Great Britain came back to beat Colombia 21-18.

Scores

The United States began the day with a slow start against Colombia, leading just 5-4 after the first quarter, but then turned the game around and allowed just three goals the rest of the game.

Ryan Tierney scored a team-high five points with three goals and two assists, while Matt Campbell scored four goals and Cole Kirst contributed a hat trick. Liam Entenmann came on as a substitute in the second half and made eight saves but only conceded two goals.

Alex Concannon and Kai Switlick each scored two goals for Colombia.

The U.S. was much sharper in its second game, taking an 8-0 lead against Puerto Rico as Entenmann made nine first-half saves and allowed just two goals.

Puerto Rico went on a 6-1 run midway through the game to get within 9-6, but the U.S. closed the game with nine straight goals. Colin Kirst made eight saves in the second half and held Puerto Rico scoreless in the final 10-plus minutes of the game.

Campbell scored five goals and led the U.S. offense, while Chris Aslanian, TJ Malone 2 and Brian Tevlin each scored two goals.

Six different players scored goals for Puerto Rico and Will Mark made eleven saves.

“I think we’re still learning how we want to play,” said U.S. head coach Andy Shay. “We’re trying to play with a little more speed and tempo. I think we played a little faster but probably scored fewer goals. I think their goalkeeper is great.

“I’m looking at the stats this morning. I was really impressed with how unselfish we were and how balanced we were in terms of the shots each one took. I think this is a great sign for our team.”

In its first game, Puerto Rico scored the first four goals in the opening game and never trailed, defeating Great Britain 16-14. Great Britain came within two goals on six separate occasions but couldn’t get any closer.

Puerto Rico showed tremendous balance with 13 different players scoring goals, led by Jared Fernandez, Donovan Lacey and Cristian Mercado with two goals each. Mark made 13 saves, including 10 in the first half, to secure the win.

Alex Russell led Great Britain’s attack with three goals and two assists, and Lyndon Bunio and Ben Page-Laycock each added hat-tricks. William Baxter and Hal Dwobeng combined for 15 saves.

Great Britain beat Colombia 21-18 in their final game of the day behind four goals from Page-Laycock. The game was tied 16-16 at the start of the fourth quarter, but Page-Laycock scored two goals in the final quarter to help Great Britain take the lead. Ryan Hunns added three goals and Drew Bickerton had two goals and three assists.

Baxter made 12 saves for Great Britain in the second half, allowing just six goals.

Concannon and Alex Mandel-Franco each scored four goals for Colombia.

Paul Ohanian contributed to this article.