The time to continue the journey to the senior men’s world championship in 2023 is now.

The process of identifying the players who will defend the gold medal won in 2018 in Netanya, Israel, continues in earnest at the USA Lacrosse Fall Classic this weekend. The U.S. men will host Canada and Virginia (Saturday, 5 p.m. ET on LSN) in a pair of international rules exhibitions at Tierney Field in Sparks, Md., getting the evaluation process moving in full swing.

Here are five players to look out for at Fall Classic.

USA LACROSSE FALL CLASSIC

Men’s Teams: Canada, USA, Virginia
Women’s Teams: Boston College, Canada, USA
Brogden Cup: Ontario 16U/18U, USA Select 16U/18U, Haudenosaunee Nationals 16U/18U
Dates: Oct. 15-17, 2021
Location: Sparks, Md.
Schedule | Tickets

BRYAN COSTABILE, MIDFIELD

Costabile, a U19 gold medalist in 2016, was part of a core group that includes Jared Bernhardt, Mac O’Keefe, Jack Rowlett, Ryan Conrad and many more stars of the game. Five years later, he gets his chance wearing a senior national team jersey.

This past season with Atlas LC, Costabile has finished sixth in the PLL with 28 points — a strong sophomore showing for the Notre Dame product.

GRANT AMENT, ATTACK

Ament has been on a meteoric since he stepped foot on campus at Penn State in 2015. He finished sixth in NCAA history with 191 assists and was an All-American three times while playing at Panzer.

In two seasons with Archers LC, Ament has established himself as one of the premier feeders in lacrosse. He won the PLL’s Attackman of the Year award after leading the league with 13 goals and 22 assists.

ROB PANNELL, ATTACK

Pannell has been busy since he delivered the game-winning assist in the 2018 gold-medal game. After finishing out his career in Major League Lacrosse, he made the jump to the Premier Lacrosse League before the two organizations merged.

After a COVID-19 influenced first season with Redwoods LC, Pannell settled into his normal rate of production in 2021. He helped lead Redwoods with 13 goals and 16 assists.

BLAZE RIORDEN, GOALIE

You can call him MVP. You can call him a champion. Soon, you might be able to call him a U.S. men’s national team player.

Riorden is no stranger to the U.S. national team program — he’s won two bronze medals as a member of the U.S. men’s indoor team. However, he’ll step in the cage to represent his country for the first time at Fall Classic.

He’s the reigning PLL MVP and helped lead Chaos LC to the championship, making 15 saves in the title game.

MYLES JONES, MIDFIELD

Jones narrowly missed out on a spot in 2018, and he’s looking to avoid that fate come the 2023 world championship. He excelled on the field this summer, tallying 13 goals and 17 assists, good for second in the league behind Ament.

The former Duke star uses his physicality to generate open shooting lanes and was extremely accurate this season. Expect a long-distance shot at some point during Fall Classic this weekend.