USMNT Top Hosts at Pan American Cup
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MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay – In their first pool game of the 2025 Pan American Cups in Montevideo, Uruguay, the No. 25 U.S. Men’s National Team played hosts No. 43 Uruguay under the lights. The Wolves scored early, and in each of the quarters, to win 6-1. Wyatt Katz tallied his first senior international goal, while Emil Collins played in his first cap.
To open the scoring in the 4th minute, a great individual run by Jack Heldens down the middle was passed to Kei Kaeppeler who crossed to Wyatt Katz for the easy finish off the post.
Six minutes later, a long sweep by Aki Kaeppeler was first touched by Kei Kaeppeler and then deflected in by Mehtab Grewal to make it 2-0.
At the end of the first quarter, shots (2-2) and penalty corners (1-1) were even but USA’s defense held strong and didn’t allow a shot in the second and third frames.
In the 22nd minutes, Aki Kaeppeler notched his first of two penalty corner goals to extend it to 3-0.
After winning back-to-back penalty corners, a set play on the second was stopped by Aki Kaeppeler and passed to Jack Heldens to set Sekayi Charasika up for a drag into the net.
Marius Leser made it 5-0 in the 41st minute after battling the ball out of the air that was brought up by Alberto Montilla.
To close out USA’s scoring, Aki Kaeppeler tallied his second penalty corner goal in the 48th minute.
Key Moments:
- 4’ A great run individual run by Jack Heldens down the middle was passed to Kei Kaeppeler who crossed to Wyatt Katz for the easy finish off the post to open the scoring for USA
- 10’ A long sweep by Aki Kaeppeler was first touched by Kei Kaeppeler and then deflected in by Mehtab Grewal (2-0)
- 10’ USA earned their first penalty corner, but the chance was well-defended
- 14’ Uruguay earned a set piece and Alberto Montilla helped make the stop off the goal line
- 22’ USA earned their second set piece and on the chance Aki Kaeppeler drug it into the corner to make it 3-0
- 25’ USA produced back-to-back circle entries and on the second one it looked like Pat Harris scored but it was called back
- 28’ Uruguay found themselves in a 2v2 situation attacking the circle, but Michael Mendoza stepped up and made the solid tackle
- 32’ USA earned their third penalty corner, which Aki Kaeppeler sent wide
- 37’ USA won back-to-back set pieces – and on the second attempt a set play through Aki Kaeppeler and Jack Heldens set Sekayi Charasika up for a drag into the net to make it 4-0
- 37’ Within the same minute, USA earned another penalty corner, but to no avail
- 38’ Mehtab Grewal was issued a 2-minute green card
- 41’ Marius Leser made it 5-0 after battling the ball out of the air that was brought up by Alberto Montilla
- 44’ Following a video referral, USA earned their seventh penalty corner and the drag by Sekayi Charasika was saved by Uruguay’s goalkeeper
- 48’ Uruguay earned their second penalty corner that was well-defended by Aki Kaeppeler. This transitioned into a fast break ended with USA winning a set piece through Gerald Cutone
- 48’ Aki Kaeppeler tallied his second penalty corner goal
- 49’ Emil Collins entered the game to replace Jonathan Klages in goal
- 52’ A long ball into Uruguay’s attacking circle resulted in a shot that missed by inches
- 56’ Sekayi Charasika was issued a 5-minute yellow card
- 57’ Uruguay added a goal back off a penalty corner
- 60’ Emil Collins recorded his first save
Noteworthy:
- Wyatt Katz scored his first international senior goal
- USA’s Emil Collins earned his first international cap, and recorded one save in the game
- USA earned 8 penalty corners to Uruguay’s 3
- The Wolves produced 13 shots to Uruguay’s 6
- Today’s contest marked only the second meeting between USA and Uruguay since 2013. In that match, USA easily defeated them with a score of 12-0, with Paris Harris recording 4 goals.
- USA did not allow a shot in the second and third quarters
Thoughts from Head Coach Allan Law: "We’re pleased with the result. Winning the first game of a tournament is always important, especially against a passionate host nation like Uruguay. There were some encouraging moments in our play, and just as importantly, we see plenty of areas for growth and improvement, which is a positive sign this early in the tournament.”
“A special moment today was Emil Colin earning his first cap, a proud milestone for him and a proud moment for our program. Tonight, the focus is on recovery and quality sleep. Tomorrow, we’ll review our performance and shift our attention to the next game vs Argentina.”
Next Up: The USMNT will play their second 2025 Pan American Cup pool game on Sunday, July 27 against No. 7 Argentina at 10:30 a.m. ET. All games can be streamed on Watch.Hockey (PPV).
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