England gave reigning World Champions USA a stern test before eventually going down 15-9 in the final pool game of the 2022 Women’s World Championship.

The two teams played out a 4th July spectacular with plenty of fireworks on the field as both teams put on a display of attacking lacrosse.

England were still within three going into the final 15 minutes after having the scores at 6-7 just before half-time, but USA showed their experience to pull away in the closing minutes.

A high-quality second quarter hat-trick from Olivia Hompe led the English charge, but Charlotte North was in superb shooting form scoring five for the USA and helping her side to always do enough to be in front.

England were a little slow to get away and match the intensity of the American on home soil and in front of a large crowd trailing 1-5 early.

However, they regrouped with great fight, Tilly Shires and Liv Wimpenny battling on the draw circle to win possession, and England finishing superbly to win the second quarter 4-3 and only trailing by two at the break.

In the second half, it was down to experienced Taylor Cummings to wrestle a hold on the draw and help ease the pressure on the US as we continued to keep touch.

Though Tilly Shires scored two free positions to go with four draw controls for the match and Georgie Southorn showed real quality in driving round the goal and finishing across the goalie from a tight angle to make it just 8-11 at ¾ time.

After the experience of Cummings, it was then down to the young maverick attacker that is North, scoring three in the final 10 minutes to perhaps end the game with a scoreline that reflected harshly on England who had gone to-toe-toe with the US for long periods.

Nevertheless, USA took the result to keep their 100% status and get #1 seed.

Meanwhile, England finish as the #3 seed, and will face Wales in the Last 16 elimination game on Tuesday 5 July after finishing second in their pool behind Germany.

The game gets underway at 10am EST/3pm UK Time and can be watched on ESPN Player.

England Points: Olivia Hompe (3G 1A), Claire Faram (1G 2A), Megan Whittle (2G), Tilly Shires (2G), Georgie Southorn (1G), Emily Gray (1A)

USA Points: Charlotte North (5G), Taylor Cummings (3G), Kayla Treanor (3G), Marie McCool (2G), Sam Apuzzo (1G 1A), Ally Mastroianni (1G), Emily Parros (1A), Ally Kennedy (1A), Kylie Ohlmiller (1A)