The Philippine men’s lacrosse team ended the 2023 World Lacrosse Championship stint on a high note, closing it with a fifth straight win, 8-6, against Mexico in the 15th-16th classification match on Saturday (Philippine time) at the San Diego State University Rady Field in California, United States.
This is the second-ever appearance of the Philippines in the global meet.
With the win, the Nationals matched their 2018 Netanyu Worlds win-loss record of 5-2, where they finished 10th in an entirely different format.
Tied at three after the first two periods, the Philippines regained the lead at 5-4 heading into the payoff canto after John Dugenio and Matt Speciale scored back-to-back goals.
Mexico then put up pressure with two straight goals of their own, with Charlie Frantini III and Josh Sanchez getting past Filipino goalie Dan Morris.
However, the Nationals answered with three successive goals from JJ McKenna, Neil Adrian Macalada, and Chase LaDrido to put the game in their favor with 1:53 left.
Morris then saved a last-ditch effort from Mexico’s Mike Hernandez with 39 seconds remaining to seal the deal for the Philippines.
The Nationals earlier took a 2-2 win-loss record in the group phase, absorbing losses of 4-8 and 7-9 from Israel and Puerto Rico, respectively, before securing wins against Czechia (11-4) and Sweden (9-3).
The squad then achieved two more victories in the classification phase against Peru (13-4) and Scotland (11-4) to set up this encounter against Mexico.
