Ben Pousak Explodes, Canada Responds, United States Pulls Ahead

In Monday's late game Ben Pousak exploded, Canada responded, then the United States ran away to earn an 18-12 win in a matchup between the last two IIJL World Junior Lacrosse Championship gold medalists and the two favourites for this year's title in Kingston, Ontario at Slush Puppie Place. 

Pousak was very good for the US in their tournament-opening win over Australia on Sunday; he was great in leading them to an historic win on Monday. 

It was just the second time in the IIJL World Juniors 10 years of existence that a US team has beaten Canada. The first occurred in the gold medal game in 2023. Only two members of this year's American team were on that 2023 championship club, but the 2025 squad understands the magnitude of what they did Monday. 

No one played a bigger role than Pousak. He had a goal and an assist in the first two and a half minutes as the US stunned Canada by roaring out to a 2-0 lead. Just 29 seconds later, Tyler Sebastian ripped a long outside shot inside the near post, spelling the end of the night for Canadian starting goaltender Ty Peterson. 

Cameron Greenley had some struggles of his own after replacing Peterson, but Greenley settled down and gave Canada a chance to battle back into the game, which they did. The offence, led by bravura performances from Alexander De La Ronde and Sam Neely plus timely scoring from Mason Myers, pulled Canada back within 2 Goals five times in a row. 

The United States responded to Canada's responses, pushing the lead back up to 3 Goals every time. Pousak was central to those answers, using his athleticism and stick skills to finish the game with 4 Goals and 6 Assists. 

Pousak, who is from Northville, Michigan and will head to Marquette University this fall, has now played in seven IIJL World Juniors games over the last two tournaments. In the five games against teams other than Canada, he has scored from 4 to 7 points every time, totalling 17 Goals and 28 Points. His only less-productive game came against Canada last year, when he had 2 Goals and 1 Assist. You can't accuse him of stacking up points against the lower-seeded teams any more, though. On Monday, Pousak gave his best performance against the toughest opponent in his biggest game yet. 

But even for all that Pousak and his teammates – including a strong and often spectacular performance by Beck Hagan in net – did through three quarters, Canada just kept fighting back. 

De La Ronde stepped up after Luke McNamara (on an assist from Pousak) had pushed the US lead to 12-9 with a power play goal 1:55 from the end of the third. He took a nice lead pass from Dustin Morden off the ensuing faceoff and displayed some slick stick skills to find open space behind Hagan. Just 34 seconds after that goal, De La Ronde showed off his power forward skill set by battling through checks to come from behind the net and bury another lovely goal. 

The score was 12-11 as the period ended, the momentum seemed to be with Canada, and it looked like a thrilling battle to the final whistle was in store. Then the United States really turned on the jets. 

Zachary Ryan picked up a rebound after a Hagan save on Canada's first possession of the fourth quarter, took a handful of steps and fired a line drive of a pass to Drew Norris lurking behind all the Canadian players. The US never looked back from there. They got transition goals from Carson Forney and Brayden Kuczma, his second of the game, to run away with the win. 

In addition to Pousak's big night, McNamara and Sebastian added hat tricks while Fisher Gadbois chipped in 5 Assists. 

De La Ronde and Neely each had 3 Goals and 5 Assists for Canada, with Myers adding 4 Goals and 2 Assists. 

The United States hits the floor for the third straight day on Tuesday, meeting Scotland in a battle of the undefeateds at 5:00 PM ET. Canada plays the late game, facing off against Australia at 8:00 PM ET. 

All games are available live on the IIJL World Junior Lacrosse Championship YouTube channel.