World Lacrosse Women’s U20 Championship: US ‘can improve’ on 33-0 rout, Australia also win
- Japan suffer upset against Ireland, while MVP Ocea Leavy leads the way for the Australians against New Zealand
The United States brought their fearsome reputation to the Hong Kong-hosted World Lacrosse Women’s U20 Championship on Friday, destroying Germany 33-0.
It was girls against women at the Shek Kip Mei Park as the world No 1s included college students and 2028 Olympic hopefuls against a side whose youngest player was 15. And the ominous warning was that the country who have won five of the seven world titles at this level had room for improvement.
“We’re still going to assess all the plays and see ways we can improve,” head coach Kelly Hiller said.
She put the gulf in the class partly down to the competition’s switch from under-19 to under-20, bringing players from the US college system into play. They include attacker Emma LoPinto, who Hiller tipped as a potential for the US’ lacrosse sixes team at the 2028 Games. She was player of the match with four goals and five assists.
“Emma is going to into her senior year in college, she has a national championship under her belt,” she said. “[We have] so many players with high-level, high-pressure experience.”
