This article appears in the December edition of US Lacrosse Magazine. Don’t get the mag? Join US Lacrosse today to start your subscription.

When John Danowski was hired as the head coach of the U.S. men’s national team in November 2015, he set out not only to regain the gold medal lost in 2014, but also to instill a sustainable winning culture in a program that seemed to start from scratch every four years.

Team USA’s thrilling 9-8 victory over Canada in the FIL World Championship final July 21 in Israel crossed off the first objective. Two months later, Danowski and the players proved they were serious about the second part of their mission, reuniting Oct. 6 for the Team USA Fall Classic and an exhibition against defending NCAA champion Yale.

The event marked the first time in recent memory that a standing U.S. coaching staff returned to the sideline intact. Moreover, of the 24 players who suited up for Team USA in its 12-7 victory over the Bulldogs, all but three competed for the U.S. as members of the 2018 training team. Seven of them — including FIL World Championship MVP Mike Ehrhardt and All-World attackman Ryan Brown — were a part of the special group that hoisted the Turnbull Shield in Netanya.

“I believe in US Lacrosse. I saw the absolute joy that guys had being a part of the tryouts and representing the United States on foreign soil,” Danowski said. “It wasn’t about personal brands. It was about a team. We want to keep that going.”

Danowski, a three-time NCAA championship-winning coach whose Duke team lost to Yale in last year’s final, likened the seven returning players to college seniors who know what it takes to win. In the international game, it means constructing a roster of mentally and physically tough grinders who will hold up over the course of seven games in 10 days and of selfless players who share the ball, especially on offense.

“We had two-and-a-half years to create something. This time, it’s four years, for whoever the coach is going to be,” Danowski said at the time. US Lacrosse later announced that both Danowski and gold medal-winning U.S. U19 coach Nick Myers would return for the teams’ next competition cycles. “Everybody [returning] got a little feel for what the staff is about and how we like to do things. Now the difference is we have some data.”

Danowski pointed to the fact that 65 percent of Team USA’s goals were assisted, with an additional 25 percent of its scoring facilitated by second assists. The U.S. also committed just four turnovers in 80 minutes during the championship game.

“It validates that you play for the guy next to you, even at this level,” he said. 

After shaking off the rust against Yale, the U.S. regained its form in the second half, committing just two turnovers and generating assists on six of eight goals during the 30-minute span.

Ehrhardt picked up where he left off in Israel, providing a menacing presence in the middle of the field while ripping a long-pole goal off a team faceoff win. At age 26, he feels like he’s just entering his prime following his breakout performance at the FIL World Championship.

“It was an incredible experience. I’m still not over it. I don’t think I will be for a while. It was our forever game,” he said. “You got 22 new brothers and a whole coaching staff that you can call upon for anything you need. We really did become a family over there.”

Ehrhardt — whose gold medal resides in a display in his apartment in New York City, not at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea, as Paul Rabil humorously suggested on social media after the team’s celebration — said people would be even hungrier to play for the U.S. in four years after this journey.

“It’s going to be more competitive than ever to make this team in 2022,” he said.