Zak Madell leads undefeated Canadian wheelchair rugby squad past United States

The Canadian wheelchair rugby team is brimming with confidence at the Parapan Am Games in Santiago, Chile after defeating their American rivals 46-41, securing first place in the preliminary round with an unblemished 5-0 record.

Led by one of the most dominant players in the sport today, Zak Madell scored 30 of Canada's 46 tries on the way to a 46-41 win over the world's number-one ranked Americans.

"Those ones always feel good. We're excited and we want to celebrate a little bit but we're already looking ahead. We have a semifinal tomorrow," Madell told CBC Sports after the win.

"This is a long-standing rivalry, so we're always looking forward to playing this team. Today I think we had a little more energy than them."

Postgame coverage of Canada’s thrilling victory over USA in wheelchair rugby. <br><br>With <a href="https://twitter.com/ZMadell?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ZMadell</a> who had himself a day, scoring 30 of Canada’s 46 tries. <br><br>A bit of celebrating and then it’s back to work with the Parapan Am Games semifinal tomorrow. <a href="https://t.co/w8F6qAMF4P">pic.twitter.com/w8F6qAMF4P</a>

Canada now awaits its semifinal opponent — it will either be Brazil or Colombia on Wednesday.

It would seem as though the Canadians are once again on a collision course with the Americans to decide a champion. And there's a lot at stake.

The winner here not only takes home gold but more importantly clinches a berth to the Paralympics in Paris next summer.

"We had almost everybody out there today and everybody doing their job," longtime Team Canada player Michael Whitehead said.

He's been a part of the Canada versus USA rivalry for years.

"It goes back a couple decades for me. We have to respect this team and they're going to