SAN DIEGO – Maritime College Head Men's Lacrosse Coach Justin Manjares was on the staff for Team Philippines at the recently-completed World Lacrosse Men's Championship, which took place from June 21-July 1 in San Diego.  This marked the second straight World Championships in which he worked with the Filipino National Team, after serving as the squad's Director of Operations in 2018.

"It was an honor to once again represent the Philippines on the world stage," Manjares said.  "As expected, the quality of play was outstanding, and I'm proud of our team's performance.  We competed extremely well against some top-notch opponents."

The Philippines was drawn into Group C with the Czech Republic, Israel, Puerto Rico and Sweden.  After dropping its first two games against Israel (8-4) and Puerto Rico (9-7), the team rebounded with an 11-4 victory over the Czech Republic.  The Philippines then defeated Sweden, 9-3, to finish third in the group.  Overall, the team ranked 16^th out of 30 in the preliminary round, which qualified them for the eight-team bracket to determine places 15-22.

In the first placement game, the Philippines took on 23^rd-seeded Peru and earned a 13-4 win.  After beating 20^th-seeded Scotland 11-4 in its next contest, the Philippines clinched 15^th place with an 8-6 triumph over 22^nd-seeded Mexico.  The Philippines, which played seven times in eight days at the tournament, won its last five games to finish with a 5-2 record and improve to 10-4 all-time at the World Championships.

This was the Philippines' second-ever World Championship appearance.  The nation made its debut in 2018 and placed 10^th overall.