With 15 seconds remaining in the game, Rob Pannell held the ball behind cage waiting for the whistle for the reset. When play resumed, he took a few steps to his right, only to go back to his left and run up field above goal line extended. With Kyle Sweeney chasing him but never getting a stick on his hands, Pannell planted and turned back to face the goal and fired a shot past Brett Queener, putting his team ahead, 10-9, with five seconds remaining.

It was Pannell’s first goal of the game, and it was the difference maker to give the U.S. national team a hard-fought victory over a team of MLL all-stars in the 2014 MLL All-Star Game at Harvard Stadium in Cambridge, Mass.

“I remember I hadn’t done much else up to that point. It was kind of a sense of relief for us, for Team USA,” Pannell said. “I remember the all-star goalies playing well. Everything leading up to it, we had the ball with 20 or 30 seconds left. We had a play drawn, and if nothing’s there, let’s get it to Rob and see if we can create something. No one slid. I was lucky to see an opening. I got a shot off, and it went in. There is a little added pressure with Team USA. It was just a sigh of relief.”

The 2014 MLL All-Star Game was the third time the exhibition saw a team of MLL all-stars take on the U.S. prior to Team USA playing in the FIL World Championship.

Pannell, headed to his second world championship in July, will lead Team USA once again as the 2018 MLL All-Star Game adopts the same format in the same stadium next Thursday, June 28, at 7 p.m. Eastern. He predicts the 2018 version to be as close as the past two, where Team USA defeated Team MLL by only one goal in each.

“It’ll be a great game,” he said. “It’ll come down to the fourth quarter. I’m excited for it. It’ll be a great atmosphere. It always is at Harvard. I can’t wait for it.”

MLL commissioner Sandy Brown agreed.

“If you’re a fan of lacrosse, it will be an exceptional evening,” he said. “It will be a close game, very competitive. With what’s in store with the world championship, I think the U.S. team will certainly be challenged in a very significant manner with our guys. … There will be some amazing things people see on the field that night.”

All-star games are exhibitions allowing fans to see the best of the best in a given sport compete. Fans can see players from different teams play together, and without the pressure of the standings, players can be more creative.

Many all-star competitions in other sports have drawn criticism, however, as they appear to lack a competitive spirit. Ohio Machine midfielder Kyle Harrison, who played for Team USA in 2014 and 2006 and will play for Team MLL in 2018, said that is not the case for the MLL All-Star Game.

“You can’t fake this,” Harrison said. “It’s an honor to be in the game. Every player who can play in this game can take it seriously. I don’t know if this will happen again, so I don’t want to take it for granted. You add the heightened urgency of Team USA there and the underlying stories of guys who want to be on the team, and it’s competitive.”

Denver Outlaws attackman Eric Law played against the U.S. as an MLL all-star in 2014 and will do so again next Thursday.

“Guys in this league are too competitive and love it too much to see it put to the side like other major league sports games,” Law said.

The format pitting the MLL all-stars against the U.S. national team makes the game even more hotly contested because a majority of the MLL roster is made up of American players who either were cut from Team USA or want to one day play for the team.

Twelve of the 30 players named to the MLL team were a part of the U.S. tryout process, including eight who were a part of the training team before it was cut down to a traveling roster of 23 in January. Team USA will carry 22 of those 23 players — short-stick defensive midfielder Steve DeNapoli is out with a torn ACL — plus six additional training team members to Boston for training camp and the MLL All-Star Game.

Three players currently in the running to represent U.S. rival Canada — midfielders Zach Currier and Joel Tinney and attackman Kevin Rice, who was not invited to try out for the U.S. team — will represent the MLL.

“I remember it being a bunch of guys who thought they should be putting on the red, white and blue,” Law said of the 2014 contest. “Although it was an all-star game and supposed to be showcasing the best in the world, it had a competitive vibe to it.”

“We lost by a last-second goal, and guys were visibly upset and felt we should’ve won that game,” Law added. “I feel like it’s going to be another one like that.”

Pannell said he remembered the passion the MLL all-stars brought to the 2014 competition and how that adds to the pressure Team USA feels, even though the game is only a tune-up for the world championship, which gets underway July 12 in Netanya, Israel.

“It’s difficult from a Team USA standpoint,” he said. “We have everything to lose in this type of environment. We’re supposed to win. We’re supposed to be the best team in the country and the world, hopefully. There’s a little added pressure. On the contrary, the all-stars have no pressure. They’re there to represent the MLL. They can play loose and relaxed and have fun. It’s an interesting dynamic. You saw that last time where it was a one-goal game. You saw USA playing tighter than they should, and the MLL all-stars gaining confidence.”

Making things more difficult for Team USA is the rule differences between MLL and international lacrosse. In international lacrosse, there is no shot clock nor is there a 2-point line.

In 2014, the MLL All-Star Game was played under MLL rules. Players on the U.S. roster, however, worked as if they were already at the world games, not shooting 2-pointers and rolling the ball to the corner if there was going to be a shot clock violation instead of forcing shots.

“In 2014, the coaching staff did a great job in the training camp process,” Harrison said. “They did a great job making sure we were trying to practice and play based on international rules. If you look at the MLL game, a lot of checks that are normal for us are slashes internationally. It’s just needing to be cognizant of it.”

That being said, Pannell anticipates things to loosen up this time around.

“Coach [John] Danowski brings a certain vibe with him that’s great and light and funny and allows us to have a lot of fun in the process. I think that will help a little bit,” he said. “I’m assuming he’ll tell us to play in an MLL game, to go out there and do our thing and have fun, but it is after a week of training camp and preparation. Not only have you played for three straight days and playing a game against the best players in the world, you’re doing a different style. We’re on Team USA for a reason. We are some of the best players in the world, and we can handle those adjustments, and we’ll see what happens against a very talented all-star team.”

Three players on Team USA — attackman Matt Danowski, midfielder Tom Schreiber and long-stick midfielder Joel White — played for Team MLL in 2014.

Harrison will flip sides. Playing alongside a younger roster on Team MLL — six rookies were selected — Harrison wants to make sure he helps his teammates understand that not only should they play hard, but also they should enjoy themselves.

“I’m very appreciative and fortunate to have the opportunity to be a part of the game,” he said. “It’s showing the young guys what happens and the process and making sure we play hard. I have a banged-up hamstring, and I’m hopeful I’ll be good to go. It’s about enjoying it too. I don’t want to talk so much about the competitive game. It’s an incredible opportunity to be a part of the game, and it’s important to take a second to appreciate you’re a part of this game. Opportunities like this don’t come every day or every year, so it’s important to enjoy it while you have it.”

Law had a similar sentiment and is just happy to help the U.S. team on its journey by playing hard against the Americans.

“It’s a unique process, but it’s incredibly humbling,” he said. “It’s an incredible honor, and I’m a big-time beneficiary to play with incredible teammates. They make my job very easy. I’m incredibly grateful for this opportunity to play against Team USA and play the best warmup we can give them and, hopefully, sneak one out against them.”

The MLL All-Star Game will serve many purposes. Team USA will look to translate what it has implemented at training camp into the game while gaining some additional experience playing together. Some players on Team MLL, meanwhile, will try to show that they should be considered for future Team USA rosters. On either side, fans will want to see their favorite players come together for the competition.

Brown, however, knows that ultimately, this exhibition will help people realize how incredible Major League Lacrosse, and the sport itself, is.

“We have an opportunity to put on a really good show,” he said. “In my mind, every MLL game is an all-star game. The quality of the talent just jumps off the page. That’s exciting. If you’re a lacrosse fan, you’re going to see a level of play that far outweighs what you saw, for example, in the NCAA championship game. You use that as a starting point. Now, you have the best of the best on the field at the same time, and it should be a real treat, and I’m excited about it.”