The World Lacrosse Men’s Championship occurs from June 21st, 2023, to July 1st, 2023. A few Philadelphia Wings players will represent the United States, defending the World Lacrosse Men’s Championship versus 29 other teams.
In conjunction with the IMLCA Winter Summit, a training camp helped select the final roster.
Highly touted on the roster are Trevor Baptiste, Matt Rambo, and Blaze Riorden. Baptiste is one of six gold medalists from the 2018 World Lacrosse Men’s Championship team.
Rambo and Riorden played for the United States box lacrosse team in the World Indoor Lacrosse Championship with Baptiste. All three Wings made the World Lacrosse Men’s Championship United States roster.
Trevor Baptiste
Ask his peers. They ranked him the third-best lacrosse player in the PLL for 2022. No matter how you slice it, Baptiste is who you think of when you hear the word ‘faceoff.’ He’s elite (66.3%) in the PLL and the NLL, the transition specialist for Philadelphia.
At the stripe, he is insanely dominant. What isn’t noted often enough about Baptiste is his shooting accuracy. In his career with the Wings, 25.8% of his shots on goal account for a point on the scoreboard. Outdoor, 48.5% of his shots on goal get past the goaltender. More than a specialist, Baptiste is an elite lacrosse player.
Matt Rambo
Here’s another top-ten lacrosse player, according to his peers. Rambo ranks ninth in the top 50 PLL players of 2022. His outdoor game translates indoors. In each of his previous three seasons, Rambo eclipsed 50 points.
Rambo notched his 100th career NLL assist during his five-point performance in a 13-12 victory over the Georgia Swarm on December 17th. He has a high motor and is tough to stop, evidenced by his postseason effort with the Wings in 2021-2022, where Rambo scored a hat-trick. Outdoor, Rambo led the PLL in shots on goal. He’s the motor that drives his team’s offense, no matter the playing field.
Blaze Riorden
Riorden represents the Wings and the United States at the World Lacrosse Men’s Championship. In the NLL, he’s an attackman with ten points (8G, 2A) in two games to begin the 2022-2023 season. In the PLL, he’s a goaltender who routinely sets his teammates up with offensive opportunities. His perspective from the two positions changes how Chaos LC approaches lacrosse. His peers rank him the eighth-best PLL player in 2022.
Outdoor, Riorden redefined the goaltender position with his butterfly technique. In 2021, he claimed the top spot as voted by his peers. As a goaltender, he has a save percentage greater than 50% each season with Chaos LC.
(Photo Credit/Alex McIntyre)
