The vibe within the U.S. indoor national team program on Thursday wasn’t any different than the three days prior. The excitement was always there. The anticipation for this week had been building for the better part of two years.

The only difference was that, Thursday, Regy Thorpe and his team got to take the floor at Langley Events Centre for its World Indoor Lacrosse Championship debut. The moment had arrived, and players were ready to see just how much they’d improved since 2015.

“There’s no feeling like it,” said Blaze Riorden, who finished his PLL season last weekend but was excited to just the indoor team in Langley shortly thereafter. “To travel across the country to be with a group of men that all have the same mission. We’re wearing the greatest colors in the world.”

After a morning shootaround at McLeod Athletic Complex’s concrete open-air facility, it was game time. In front of the U.S. indoor team was the greatest challenge that could be posed — four-time defending gold medalist Canada, on their home turf, in primetime.

That excitement extended up to the first faceoff, and then the Canadians put forth an effort worthy of the reputation of the world’s best. Mark Matthews, Shayne Jackson and Robert Church combined for 19 points en route to a 16-6 Canada win in the first meeting between the two teams since Heritage Cup in 2017.

Blaze Riorden, who won PLL Goalie of the Year earlier in the night, and Kieran McArdle each recorded a hat trick to highlight the American offensive effort. Gowah Abrams stepped in to record 29 saves in the cage.

It wasn’t the result this team was hoping for, but it wasn’t difficult to understand how, if given the opportunity, the Canadians could take advantage.

“After that game, like I told the guys in the locker room, they set the bar,” defenseman Brett Manney said. “The way they played — they were impressive offensively, defensively and between the pipes. We knew it was going to be a tough first game, but when I look at it now, we’re going to have a lot of film to look at and ways to improve our game in all facets.”

Thorpe and his staff knew that this game, and tournament, provided a measuring stick for the progress of the U.S. program. The optimism shared throughout the U.S. camp remains, but there is room for improvement as it advances through round-robin play in the world championship.

“[Canada] played great tonight and we shot ourselves in the foot a little bit with penalties,” Thorpe said. “They capitalized in the man-up and that’s what great teams do. They expose your weaknesses. It’s a great learning lesson. What’s it take to beat the best?”

Canada had the U.S. on its heels within minutes, winning faceoffs and attacking the American defense early. After Kieran McArdle tied the game at 1-1, the hosts dropped six straight goals to take a commanding lead in the first quarter.

With a large lead and Canada’s defense pressing out on American shooters, a comeback proved to be too tough a task. The U.S. offense — without the injured Tom Schreiber and PLL title contenders Matt Rambo and Connor Kelly — tallied 18 first-half shots, but found chemistry late in the third quarter when McArdle and Riorden went back-to-back.

But penalties and transition goals proved to be the crutch for the U.S. gameplan. It had 11 penalties on the night, six of which ended in Canadian goals. Twice, the American defense was forced into a 5-on-3.

“Their power play was deadly tonight, so we definitely have to stay out of the penalty box going forward,” Thorpe said. “We certainly also have to limit their transition. But 5-on-5 there were real positives to build off of — we held our own with the best team in the world.”

And that’s the attitude for the U.S. indoor team as it heads into a matchup with Israel on Friday night at 7:30 PST. They’ve battled the best and came away with plenty of lessons learned.

The next step is taking the experience of playing against Canada and using it to fuel the rest of their campaign. This U.S. team hopes to be an even better version of itself come Sept.29.

The first test is over. The U.S. will regroup and prepare for yet another one. But that doesn’t mean they’ll forget about their biggest rival.

“[Canada] is a team that, hopefully, we can see down the road here,” Manney said.

“What they’d beat us by? 11 goals?” Riorden said. “So we’re 11 goals behind them right now. If we get the chance to play them again, we’ll bring a different punch.”