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O’Neill Shines in U.S. Senior Team Debut
6/22/2023 9:38:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
SAN DIEGO – The memorable year continues for Duke rising senior Brennan O'Neill as he registered a hat trick to lead the USA Lacrosse Men's National Team to a 7-5 victory over rival Canada in the opening game of the 2023 World Lacrosse Men's Championship at Snapdragon Stadium Wednesday night.
O'Neill finished with three goals on four shots to pace the Americans' offense in a rematch of the 2018 Gold Medal game. Former Blue Devil JT Giles-Harris helped anchor the defense to a superb performance, holding the Canadians to just two goals in the final 34 minutes. Giles-Harris picked up one ground ball, while matching up against one of the world's best attackman in Josh Byrne.
"As you get older, the better the players are around you and the easier it is to play," said O'Neill. "It's so fun playing with guys who can pass at any time and are such skilled players. Any time you play with guys that good, it makes it easy for you."
O'Neill's first goal came when an intended pass to Michael Sowers was deflected into the goal to give the U.S. a 2-1 lead. He tied the game, 4-4, late in the second quarter with a lefty shot from long range and then the Bay Shore, N.Y., native iced the victory to make it 7-4 at the end of the third period. Sowers opened the scoring for Team USA, finishing his night with one goal.
A rising senior, O'Neill is the lone current college player on the 23-player roster. The 21-year-old who starred last summer for the gold medal-winning U.S. U21 team is the youngest player to suit up for the senior team since the U.S. took a team comprised largely of collegians to Australia in 2002.
In 2023, O'Neill has won the Tewaaraton Award, the USILA Lt. Raymond J. Enners Most Outstanding Player honor, ACC Offensive Player of the Year and helped lead the Blue Devils to an ACC Championship and to the NCAA title game.
Duke attackman Dyson Williams suited up for Canada, firing one shot while running out of the midfield.
The U.S. (1-0) has the day off Thursday and will resume pool play Friday against Australia (10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, ESPN+). Canada is back in action Saturday against Australia at 7 p.m., ET on ESPN+.
For more information on Duke men's lacrosse, follow the Blue Devils on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching DukeMLAX.
#GoDuke
O'Neill finished with three goals on four shots to pace the Americans' offense in a rematch of the 2018 Gold Medal game. Former Blue Devil JT Giles-Harris helped anchor the defense to a superb performance, holding the Canadians to just two goals in the final 34 minutes. Giles-Harris picked up one ground ball, while matching up against one of the world's best attackman in Josh Byrne.
"As you get older, the better the players are around you and the easier it is to play," said O'Neill. "It's so fun playing with guys who can pass at any time and are such skilled players. Any time you play with guys that good, it makes it easy for you."
O'Neill's first goal came when an intended pass to Michael Sowers was deflected into the goal to give the U.S. a 2-1 lead. He tied the game, 4-4, late in the second quarter with a lefty shot from long range and then the Bay Shore, N.Y., native iced the victory to make it 7-4 at the end of the third period. Sowers opened the scoring for Team USA, finishing his night with one goal.
A rising senior, O'Neill is the lone current college player on the 23-player roster. The 21-year-old who starred last summer for the gold medal-winning U.S. U21 team is the youngest player to suit up for the senior team since the U.S. took a team comprised largely of collegians to Australia in 2002.
In 2023, O'Neill has won the Tewaaraton Award, the USILA Lt. Raymond J. Enners Most Outstanding Player honor, ACC Offensive Player of the Year and helped lead the Blue Devils to an ACC Championship and to the NCAA title game.
Duke attackman Dyson Williams suited up for Canada, firing one shot while running out of the midfield.
The U.S. (1-0) has the day off Thursday and will resume pool play Friday against Australia (10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, ESPN+). Canada is back in action Saturday against Australia at 7 p.m., ET on ESPN+.
For more information on Duke men's lacrosse, follow the Blue Devils on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching DukeMLAX.
#GoDuke
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