Philly’s Marie McCool, Emily Parros help power Team USA’s fast start in the women’s lacrosse world championship

TOWSON, Md. — In the first few days of the women’s lacrosse world championship, the United States proved it still was the team to beat. The Americans overtook Canada, 16-11, in a rematch of the 2017 gold-medal game and routed Scotland, 20-1.

The Philly contingent of the United States team — Marie McCool and Emily Parros — had an outstanding week. McCool (Moorestown) was one of two players on the team to score a hat-trick in both games, along with Charlotte North. Parros (Strath Haven), was awarded player of the game on Wednesday with two goals and one assist. Defensively, she had three draw controls and caused one turnover against Canada.

Two-time Tewaaraton Award winner North scored a hat trick just over 10 minutes into the game. The Texan had just completed her collegiate tenure with Boston College. She posted another tally in the third quarter for a team-high four goals.

“They’re a great team,” North said of the Canadians. “I mean, they’re super well-coached, very talented, and athletic all over the field.”

As time was running out in the first quarter, North shot a rocket past Canadian goaltender Kameron Halsall. Although the ball made it past the goal line, the officials ruled the shot was too late and the goal was overturned.

Despite the unlucky call, the hosts never lost traction. Two goals from McCool in the second period helped hoist her team to a 8-5 lead at the half.

McCool got the United States scoring in the second half off her second free-position goal of the night. It also was enough to complete the hat trick.

Three straight Canadian goals in the fourth quarter tightened the game to 12-10 with only minutes left. Parros stopped the skid as she took a feed from teammate Kayla Treanor to net her second goal of the night, leading the U.S. team to a three-goal run of its own.

“I love that the game got tight tonight,” U.S. head coach Jenny Levy said. “It really showed what we need to do to dig our cleats in and handle a little adversity.”

The game was not tight Friday night against Scotland. Eight players scored, and four players hat-tricked in the 20-1 beatdown.

After two rain delays, the game started at 9:30 p.m., over an hour after the original 8 p.m. start time.

The lateness didn’t seem to bother the Americans, as they got off to a 7-0 run in the first quarter, fueled by three consecutive goals by North.

After the Scots slipped one in at the end of the first, the Americans did not make another mistake. For the rest of the game, the defensive end was perfect at shutting out the other team.

The last 45 minutes of the game saw absolute dominance from the U.S. team in the form of a 13-0 run, including seven more goals in the second period alone.

The U.S. currently sits atop the Pool A standings with a 2-0 record. There are five other teams in the 29-team field with a 2-0 record: Germany, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Mexico, and the Czech Republic. Israel and Japan are 3-0 in Pool B and E, respectively.

The U.S. will continue pool play with games against Australia on Saturday and England on Monday.