Sean Laureano scored five goals for Puerto Rico at the Pan-American Sixes Lacrosse Championships in Oshawa, Canada. The 21-year-old Lakewood Ranch resident helped the team finish fourth and earn a spot in the 2027 World Lacrosse Sixes Championships, the primary qualifier for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

Laureano, a Cardinal Mooney Catholic High School graduate, competed in all four of Puerto Rico's games from Sept. 29 through Oct. 4. He finished the tournament with seven points on five goals and two assists, according to Rollins College athletics. His biggest game came in a 21-16 win over Chile, when he scored three goals and added an assist.

Puerto Rico advances to 2027 world championship

Puerto Rico secured its qualification by advancing to the medal round. The team went 2-2 overall, also beating Jamaica 20-12 before falling to the United States 25-10 and the Haudenosaunee 15-13 in the bronze-medal game.

Puerto Rico finished fourth, while the top five men's teams advanced to the 2027 World Lacrosse Sixes Championships, according to World Lacrosse.

Lacrosse returns to the Olympic program as a medal sport for the first time since 1908. The 2027 World Lacrosse Sixes Championships, set for Oct. 4-10, 2027, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, will serve as the primary Olympic qualifier.

The United States receives the host berth if it meets participation requirements, while four additional men's teams will qualify through the world championship. A sixth and final Olympic berth will be awarded at a qualifying tournament expected in March or April 2028.

"It's going to be a fight," Laureano told Your Observer.

Sixes brings faster format to Olympics

Laureano, a senior attacker and business management major at Rollins College, plays NCAA Division II lacrosse in the traditional 10-on-10 field format.

Olympic competition will use the Sixes format, with five field players and a goalie per side, four eight-minute quarters and a 30-second shot clock on a smaller field.

Puerto Rico will face a field of 16 men's teams in Colorado Springs. Approximately 100 men's and women's national teams worldwide entered the Olympic qualification pathway, according to World Lacrosse.

International career began in Lakewood Ranch

Laureano's international career started close to home. In 2019, a tryout for Puerto Rico's U21 men's field national team was held at Premier Sports Campus in Lakewood Ranch.

Laureano, who is eligible through his father, Jason, who was born in Puerto Rico, made the team and continued competing internationally. He played at the 2022 World Lacrosse Men's U21 Championship in Limerick, Ireland, and at the 2025 U20 Championship on Jeju Island, South Korea, where he totaled 37 points in seven games.

Laureano was one of 13 players on Puerto Rico's Pan-American roster. His older brother, Christian Laureano, a 2021 Cardinal Mooney graduate, was not on the roster because he could not get time off from work.