The World Lacrosse Men’s Box Championship has reached the Semifinal stage, which is where things get really serious. What can we expect when Canada faces England and the United States play the Haudenosaunee Friday?
Here is everything you need to know for the games that can be seen live on ESPN+ in the US, TSN+ in Canada and World Lacrosse TV around the world.
Canada and England play on September 21, 2024 in the World Lacrosse Box Championships in Utica, New York, USA.
Look at the roster. Then look at the next 23 players Canada could have chosen. Then look at the 23 after that. Canada could put together at least two more teams that would have to be considered contenders for the gold medal were they allowed multiple entries. They may just be too much for England.
Under head coach Walt Christianson and his staff, England has been building towards having a far more domestic program for a decade, when they used to rely more heavily on Canadian players who have UK passports. They still use some of those players in key roles: MacLeod is their starting goalie and their only three players with more than four points are all Canadian-based.
The homegrown players are shining as well, though. The all-English defense is athletic and aggressive, and is showing a rapidly-rising lacrosse IQ. They play well as a unit. And — a big sign of progress — they are more aware than they have ever been of what their mistakes are and how they can correct them.
They also have a young goalie, Jacob Brindle, who has shown immense potential while only having played box lacrosse goalie for one year so far. Having a home-grown goalie is usually the last — because it is the most difficult — stage in the domestication of a national team’s roster.
It’s a David vs Goliath ask, and it’ll be tough to walk into the Adirondack Bank Center and become the first team to beat Canada at a World Lacrosse Box Championship.
An important note, though, is that while England wasn’t competitive with Canada in the round robin (based on the score), they did compete. They battled hard and made sure Canada had to work for most of what they got. Taking that another step forward would be a win for England.
An important achievement they have already claimed – As the defending European Box Lacrosse Championship gold medalists, they defended their title as the top team outside the Big Three when they reached the Semifinals.
Haudenosaunee and USA play on September 20, 2024 in the World Lacrosse Box Championships in Utica, New York, USA.
This category is a loophole for the US. Joel White was a long-time NLL player and occasionally a strong contender for the league’s Transition Player of the Year award. He retired after the 2022 season but doesn’t look to have lost a step based on his play leading up to and at the tournament.
This is almost surely the best team the US has ever put together for this tournament. The round robin win over the Haudenosaunee was the first time the Haudenosaunee had ever lost a Worlds game to anyone other than Canada. It is hard to overstate how monumental a step that is for the American program.
They are wildly athletic, have a great deal of pro experience and some of the best young talent in the tournament: their two leading goal scorers are Jack Hannah (25 years old, 13 goals) and Joey Spallina (21 years old, 10 goals).
This is the first time the US had to cut solid NLL defenders who would have been top-five guys on the defensive end for previous iterations of the team. They are harder to generate good scoring chances against than they have ever been.
If Gowah Abrams can play in the Semifinals the way he did in the round robin against the Haudenosaunee, they have a real chance to make it to their first gold medal game.
Brooker Muir has played in the NLL and definitely has the game to be there, although spots in the league are harder to come by. Zach Williams has proven to be a late bloomer. He shone in Sr. B this year and played so well at tryouts that the staff felt they just couldn’t leave him off the roster. He is built much like his younger brother Zed. While he doesn’t have Zed’s offensive prowess, Zach is a formidable figure for opposing forwards to face.
Their “positionless lacrosse” approach was bound to hit some bumps in the road, and the biggest bump was the loss to the US in their opening game. The next game saw some more turbulence as the Haudenosaunee fell behind Canada 9-0, but they outscored the Canadians 10-4 the rest of the way. They are athletic, smart, creative and working very well as a team.
Doug Jamieson, who looks likely to be the starter for this game, is one of the best goalies in the world. He is a former NLL Goalie of the Year and when he’s on, he can be as good as anyone.
Randy Staats is playing near peak form, leading the team in scoring with 10 goals and 11 assists while looking like he always knows what needs to happen next for his team to generate a good scoring chance. Thomas Hoggarth provides an invaluable inside presence that adds a dimension to the offense that few other players can match. He had a hat trick in each of his first two games then put up 6 goals against Israel.
Having Lyle Thompson and Zed Williams playing out the back door can create controlled transition chances, and Sgahendade Martin is an absolute burner in transition who can provide a game-changing spark when it is most needed.
They also have Cody Jamieson. While he has taken a step back in terms of his role with this team after having been the tournament MVP in 2019, there may not be another player whose stick you would want the ball in when you have one possession with the game on the line.
