In Saturday’s nightcap, Canada stormed out to an early lead, using its physicality and stick skills to keep the U.S. off-balance throughout the 14-10 victory.
Foote and her staff watched the film Saturday night at the Residence Inn in Whitby, Ontario — a collaborative effort with the players, each of whom was still grasping the intricacies of the sixes discipline. Together, they built a game plan centered on aggressive defense and transition.
The U.S. used both to their advantage throughout Sunday’s one-goal win.
“We lost to Canada this weekend, but we won when it mattered,” Sam Swart said. “We had a lot of good experiences and lessons and our coaches instilled some great lessons in us. By the fourth quarter of the Haudenosaunee game, it just clicked. We were like ‘Let’s go win this thing.’”
FOR THE PIONEERS
Sam Swart remembered running up and down the grass fields at the Lake Placid Summit Classic in August of 2021 — excited to be part of something new and interested to see how sixes could grow.
Swart was part of the first event which saw both men’s and women’s teams putting on a sixes showcase for those in attendance in Upstate New York. The discipline was still in development.
“We played in Lake Placid, in the grass, in the middle of nowhere,” said Swart, the former Syracuse standout. “We’ve just come such a long way. I’m so proud of the first people who picked up a stick for sixes, to what we played with this weekend. I’ve watched it form from nothing.”
Swart was part of the sixes game in its infancy just two years ago. On Sunday, she joined in the dog pile after taking down Canada for the gold medal — the first win in three tries against Canada
“I was like ‘Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on you. Fool me three times, nah uh,’” Swart said. “I lost to them in The World Games and then on Saturday. Something inside of me fired me up. I knew we couldn’t let it happen again. When the horn sounded, it was all the hard work paying off. It was a weight off my chest.”
Swart gave credit to the college and professional stars that suited up for sixes alongside her over the past two years. However, she felt something different with the 12 women selected to compete for the Super Sixes crown.
With names like Taylor Moreno, Ally Mastroianni, Lizzie Colson and Dempsey Arsenault joining the program, this may have been the most talented sixes roster the U.S. has ever assembled.
“Sixes is not like field in any way, and that’s why I love it,” Swart said. “Sixes is a gritty game. If you want to be part of it, get ready to be gritty and get pushed around. Get ready to score some gritty goals. Get ready to play some gritty defense.”
FLIP THE SWITCH
Before every game, Nicole Levy reaches into her bag and grabs a 99-cent, black-and-silver light switch her father gave her when she was in fourth grade.
She can’t take the field until she physically flips the switch — an ode to a lesson an energetic Levy learned while she was playing for her father on Long Island.
“You can have as much fun as you want, but when you step on that field, you have to have a competitive edge,” Levy said, remembering the advice of her father, Steve. “You have to flip the switch. Flip the switch.”
Levy brought that same light switch to Civic Stadium in Oshawa for her U.S. national team debut in any discipline. The former Syracuse star turned Athletes Unlimited pro got the call from Foote to join the team.
As talented as Levy has been throughout her lacrosse career, she was never named an All-American. After graduating from Syracuse in 2019, she went undrafted by the Women’s Professional Lacrosse League.
There was a time when Levy, a 200-point career scorer at Syracuse, had no direction for her future in lacrosse.
“I really thought my career was over,” Levy said.
Levy eventually made her way into the Athletes Unlimited talent pool as a crafty X attacker who could pull off highlight-reel goals in a flash. She slowly built herself a career off of her stick skills and her confidence, which she had battled with for years, began to rise.
This past fall, Levy suited up during one of a handful of U.S. women’s box ID Camps, held in preparation for next year’s world championship — her first taste of national team action. A few weeks later, Foote called and invited her to compete at the Super Sixes event.
“All my life I’ve been proving people wrong,” Levy said. “I’m 5-foot-2. I’m nothing special. When [Foote] reached out to me, I was like ‘Are you sure you meant to call me?’”
One of the people Levy needed to prove wrong was herself — and she did that this weekend. Sitting in the conference room during the first team meeting, Levy looked around at the talent that she’d be suiting up alongside. At first, she questioned whether she belonged in the room.
“The best players in the world are wearing the same uniform,” she said. “Why not go out there and give it a shot? I play against some of the best in the world over the summer at Athletes Unlimited. I didn’t think this would be too much of an adjustment.”
Teammate Amanda Johansen went down with an injury during the opening game against Canada, thus making Levy the oldest player to take the field during the U.S.’s final three games. What Levy thought would be a track meet turned into a battle of strategy between the U.S. and Canada.
Levy was anxious before taking the field wearing the red, white and blue. But after the opening minutes, she could play freely once again.
She flipped the switch.
By Sunday afternoon, Levy was wearing a gold medal around her neck — a long way from her career reaching its final destination.
“I thought this was all over,” Levy said. “But now it’s just begun.”