Marie McCool, Emily Parros help U.S. women advance to the semis of the world lacrosse championships

The United States women’s lacrosse team continued its tear through the 2022 World Championships by posting convincing wins over Hong Kong (21-0) and Japan (18-3) in knockout play. Moorestown’s Marie McCool and the U.S. will next meet No. 4 seed Australia in the semifinals on Thursday night.

The prolific McCool did the Philly area proud again, racking up five goals and seven points across the two games, as well as being featured on SportsCenter’s Top Ten.

» READ MORE: Marie McCool, Emily Parros give U.S. team a local presence at the 2022 World Lacrosse Women’s Championship

Hong Kong had squeaked into the knockout rounds with a 2-2 record as the No. 16 seed, but its luck quickly vanished there. Against the heavy underdogs, the top-seeded U.S. completed the first shutout of the 2022 tournament, marking the first time the U.S. has blanked an opponent in the World Championship since 2005.

The U.S. got off to a quick start with four goals in the opening five minutes of the game, including two from McCool. She would later complete the hat trick on a behind-the-back shot on a woman-up opportunity. The scoring play was nifty enough for SportsCenter to rank it No. 2 in its daily Top 10.

A 15-0 lead at the half allowed the U.S. to give some key players an extended break as the game wore on. Rest is especially crucial because the schedule sees the team play on four consecutive days. If the U.S. beats Australia on Thursday, they will then only have a one-day break ahead of Saturday’s gold-medal match.

The U.S. didn’t completely turn off the offense in the second half, either, scoring six more goals, including one from local Emily Parros to put an exclamation point on the win. Hong Kong was held to only one shot on net during the game.

Rain has been an issue for most of the tournament, as toward the end of pool play, many games were delayed several hours due to storms in the Towson, Maryland area. The rain didn’t spoil the Americans’ parade Wednesday night, though, as they rolled to an impressive 18-3 win over Japan.

“It was definitely downpouring at one point,” McCool said after the game. “We have to definitely learn how to adjust our game, make sure that we are keeping our passes a little shorter. I think we did a great job adjusting to the weather.”

During pool play, Japan had made a case as the tournament’s dark horse, scoring the most goals (78) and posting the lowest team goals-against average (3.25) amongst the 30 teams. Although America’s pool was comprised of the other top four ranked teams — Canada, Great Britain, Australia, and Scotland — in the world, many were looking forward to this matchup given the staggering statistics Japan had put up.

It was the host U.S. who put up the stats on this night. The U.S. opened up the scoring less than a minute in as McCool slipped the ball to Charlotte North on the transition to fire home. After playing even with the Japanese in the first few minutes of the first quarter, the U.S. pulled away, using a 6-0 tear to take a 9-2 lead into the half.

Japan answered with a goal of their own within 20 seconds of the second-half starting whistle but that would be it, as the U.S. scored nine unanswered goals to win, 18-3.

Three U.S. players tallied hat-tricks in the contest – North, Sam Apuzzo, and Kayla Treanor (four goals) – however, it was McCool, with two goals and one assist, who took home player of the game honors again due to her all-around performance.

The United States’ depth was also on full display in each game. Against Japan, eight Americans scored, while 14 of the 18 players on the roster registered a point vs. Hong Kong.

The top four seeds entering the tournament have all advanced to the semifinals where No. 1 U.S. will play No. 4 Australia and No. 2 Canada will play No. 3 England. These teams all faced each other in round-robin play, and the Americans went undefeated. Tonight at 7:00 p.m (ESPN+), the Americans will look to keep that streak alive against Australia, the only nation outside of the U.S. to win a World Championships before.