England battle hard in loss to USA at U21 World Championship

England battled hard but eventually lost 17-3 against the USA in the sun at the University of Limerick, Ireland on game day two at the 2022 World Lacrosse Men’s U21 World Championship.

Six goals from six shots by Graham Bundy Jr and a Patrick Kavanagh hat-trick propelled USA to victory and ensured they maintained their 100% record at the tournament so far.

Goals from Ollie Allsop, Danny Hilditch, and Will Shirt coupled with the way they grew into the game will give England some confidence heading into their final two pool stage games but that wasn’t enough to overcome the USA on the day.

The USA started the game in terrifying form, fresh off the back of a tight victory over Canada in their opening fixture, and found themselves four goals up with eight minutes gone in the game.

England managed to steady the ship somewhat heading into the final five minutes of the first quarter and scored with their very first shot of the game after their first meaningful period of possession.

Allsop snatched his second goal of the tournament with a cute underarm finish from just outside the crease after some good work from his team mates in midfield.

England looked a little more confident after their goal and managed to trouble USA goalie, Jared Paquette, just before quarter-time when Will Goodwin tried his luck from close range; unfortunately for England, Paquette was equal to it.

Any game against the USA is tough and this was no exception but England will be pleased that they were able to prevent the opposition from scoring for over ten minutes at the back end of the opening quarter and beginning of the second.

But they eventually wore down the stoic England defence and went on a run of scoring five without reply: four in the second quarter and one in the third.

England have worked hard over the past three years to get to this point and they weren’t about to back down now and they got their reward when Will Shirt went on a determined run towards goal, slipped past a USA defender, and fired home to make the score 9-2.

The team were clearly buoyed by this goal and it wasn’t long before they hit their third through Hilditch, who also takes his tally to two for the tournament, after England found themselves a man up in the game.

Hilditch was found in space 15 yards from goal and he only had one thing on his mind as he wound up a shot that kissed the post on its way in.

As the game wound down to a close, the USA once again went on a goal-scoring run, this time hitting six without reply to see the match out at 17-3.

England now have a rest day today (Friday 12) before their third pool stage game against Australia tomorrow (Saturday 13) live on BT Sport 4!

England Points: Ollie Allsop (1G), Will Shirt (1G), Danny Hilditch (1G)

Saturday 12 August Schedule (times BST)

Kenya v Poland | 11.00
China v Wales | 12.00
Czech Republic v Japan | 13.00
Hong Kong v Netherlands | 14.00
Jamaica v Ireland | 15.00
Australia v England | 16.00
Sweden v Uganda | 17.00
Germany v Latvia | 18.00
USA v Haudenosaunee | 19.00

England fall to opening day defeat against the Haudenosaunee at U21 World Championship

England player pushes against Haudenosaunee player

England started their 2022 World Lacrosse Men’s U21 World Championship campaign with a tough 14-3 defeat against the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.

Four goals from the unplayable Anahalihs Doxtator as well as a hat-trick for Gregory Elijah-Brown ensured the Haudenosaunee of the victory at the University of Limerick, Ireland on the opening day of the competition.

Despite going 1-0 down after just 10 seconds when Doxtater latched onto the end of a defence splitting pass and scored on the turn, England started brightly and got themselves an equaliser just after the three-minute mark when Drew Bickerton scored with a diving shot across the crease after some patient build-up play around the opposition goal.

A couple of minutes later, England found themselves in front after some nice back and forth passes between Ollie Allsop and Will Shirt eventually allowed Allsop enough space to take a shot.

And take a shot he did as he fired into the bottom corner from a tight angle to make the score 2-1 to England.

The Haudenosaunee put the after-burners on at this point and were able to score four goals in quick succession before the end of the first quarter; Doxtater grabbing his second, Elijah-Brown with his first, and two from Rowisonkies Barnes.

England were well and truly on the back-foot from this point onwards and the second quarter followed a similar pattern to the first.

Doxtater first completed his hat-trick and then added a fourth two minutes later before David Anderson scored two of his own as the Haudenosaunee looked to well and truly kill the game.

But England rallied late in the quarter with Allsop seeing his shot saved well by Jack VanValkenburgh and Danny Hilditch watching his shot sail well over the goal.

With twenty seconds remaining in the half, however, England did get the goal they’d been pushing for when Hilditch’s determined run through the opposition defence ended with a shot that evaded VanValkenburgh.

And just before the half-time whistle, Sam Rogerson in the England goal made an excellent stop from point blank range to keep the Haudenosaunee out and the score at 9-3 heading into half-time.

Any momentum England had built up towards the back end of the first half was quashed as the Haudenosaunee came back out with intent in the third quarter.

Within five minutes of the restart, England’s opponents had added two more goals to their tally as Elijah-Brown scored his second and Stone Jacobs also got in on the act.

England Head Coach, Ryan Garnsworthy’s half-time instructions were clearly to take more shots at the Haudenosaunee goal and his team didn’t disappoint as Ed Loveland and Will Goodwin both hit the crossbar from close range.

Goodwin and Nathan Wilkinson also saw shots saved by the brick-wall in the opposition goal, VanValkenburgh.

And it was cruel on England when substitute goalie, Jack Allen, got caught in possession 15 yards from goal with no defenders near him, allowing Efrain Barreto Jr. with a free shot on goal that he couldn’t miss.

As the game entered the fourth quarter, England seemed to relax in front of goal and were determined to test the Haudenosaunee goalie before time was up.

Hilditch had a string of shots that either hit VanValkenburgh square in the chest or were wide of the mark and Goodwin saw another one of his shots fly past the post.

But, as always, the Haudenosaunee were there to pounce and Koleton Marquis scored his team’s thirteenth moments after a brilliant save by Allen before Elijah-Brown completed his hat-trick and the scoring for the match with 35 seconds left on the clock.

All eyes now turn to tomorrow as England take on USA at 4pm BST live on BT Sport 2!

England Points: Drew Bickerton (1G), Ollie Allsop (1G), Danny Hilditch (1G).

Thursday 11 August Schedule (times BST)

Latvia v Jamaica | 10.00
Netherlands v Sweden | 11.00
Israel v Puerto Rico | 13.00
Wales v Kenya | 14.00
China v Chinese Taipei | 15.00
England v USA | 16.00
Hong Kong v Korea | 17.00
Canada v Australia | 19.00

How to watch 2022 Men's U21 World Championship

On Wednesday, the England men’s U21 field team get their 2022 World Lacrosse Men’s U21 World Championship campaign underway against the Haudenosaunee Confederacy in Pool A.

The following day, on Thursday, they’ll play USA before a rest day followed by the final two pool stage matches against Australia and Canada on Friday and Sunday respectively, as England look to progress to the next stage of the competition.

In June, Head Coach, Ryan Garnsworthy and his team of coaches announced their 23-player squad to head to Limerick, Ireland for the Championship and they travelled to Dublin last week where they’ve played a couple of warm-up scrimmages in preparation for the tournament.

Over the next few days, they’ll continue to train hard before their opening fixture against the Haudenosaunee Confederacy at 1pm BST on Wednesday.

World Lacrosse has partnered with ESPN and Lax Sports Network to broadcast all 86 games of the Championship with 22 games being distributed on ESPN+ and via select ESPN International platforms with two games – a semifinal and the gold medal match – also televised in the United States on ESPNU.

The remaining 64 games will be offered globally by Lax Sports Network. LSN streams for free in over 40 countries worldwide across several platforms, including Local Now, Sports Tribal, Select TV, Sports.TV, Distro and Stremium. 

Pool A Streaming Schedule

10 August

USA v Canada | 12.00 | ESPN+
Haudenosaunee v England | 13.00 | Lax Sports Network

11 August

England v USA | 16.00 | BT Sport 2
Canada v Australia | 19.00 | ESPN+

13 August

Australia v England | 16.00 | ESPN+
USA v Haudenosaunee | 19.00 | ESPN+

14 August

Haudenosaunee v Australia | 16.00 | ESPN+
England v Canada | 19.00 | BT Sport 4

15 August

Australia v USA | 16.00 | ESPN+
Canada v Haudenosaunee | 19.00 | ESPN+

England win first major tournament title after victory over Germany

Captain Tom Roche lifts the European Box Lacrosse Championship trophy after England's win over Germany in the final

Image Credit: Marek Stor/shutterlax.com

England claimed their first ever major tournament title after they defeated rivals Germany 11-8 in the 2022 European Box Lacrosse Championship final.

Prolific goal-scorers throughout the tournament Elliot Leonard and Matt Marsh bagged themselves a hat-trick each in a tight and tense game at the Eisarena in Hannover, Germany.

It was always going to be a close affair with the nature of England and Germany’s rivalry, Germany playing on home turf, and two top quality teams out of the floor and it was England who started the brighter and found themselves one goal to the good after just 45 seconds when Leonard expertly rolled a Germany defender, dived across the crease and scored.

Despite the powerful start from England, Germany worked their way back into the game, showing their quality, but unable to find the finish until nearly seven minutes in when Justin Wismer ran around the back of the England goal and equalised, seemingly taking goalie Cameron Macleod by surprise.

England continued to play their game and found themselves ahead through Leonard once again who fired one in from 10 yards after being played in by Ben Buchanan.

In games as close and as tight as this one, a two goal lead can be huge and that’s exactly where England found themselves when playing a man up with only a couple of minutes left in the first quarter.

Bunio was able to receive the ball in front of goal, evade two Germany defenders and slot home from just outside the crease to ensure England went into the second quarter 3-1 up.

England were able to really stamp their authority early in the second quarter despite another Wismer goal to cut their lead to one goal as Dan Watson first squeezed one past the Germany goalie before Marsh scored his first with an emphatic high to low finish.

But such is the frenetic nature of box lacrosse that Germany were able to score three without reply at the back end of the quarter to see the sides go in at half-time with the scores perfectly poised at 5-5.

Head Coach, Walt Christianson, impressed upon his team throughout the tournament to remain calm and keep playing their game no matter what and this really paid dividends in the third quarter as England came out after the break and scored three in quick succession.

First, Leonard completed his hat-trick after some lovely movement around the Germany defence, before Tyson Roe drew a defender out of position, allowing Marsh to hit his second from range.

Then, Roe finally got in on the action himself using his strength and speed to blow away two Germany defenders and the deft flick of the wrist to finish was straight out of the top drawer!

Despite England being the dominant force in the third quarter, Germany were not without danger as was proved when they clawed a goal back with England a man down.

But England weren’t phased by this and, with Marsh eyeing up a hat-trick, they always looked dangerous on the attack.

And with five to go before quarter time, Marsh scored his third to complete his hat-trick after some lovely work around the crease from Watson and Bunio allowed the England attacker the space to shoot.

England’s job was made slightly harder just before the end of the third quarter when Dan Watson was ejected from the game for committing a major foul on a Germany defender leaving England without one of their start attackers for the final 15 minutes.

Despite the set-back with Watson, England came out for the fourth and final quarter with determination to hold onto their lead and replied to Germany’s seventh through Leonhard Nöring with two goals to effectively put the game to bed.

Bunio was able to squeeze a shot past the goalie as he was falling to the ground just outside the crease before Groves hit one for the cameras as he received a pass, ran at goal, jumped across the crease and finished with aplomb!

A late Germany goal wasn’t enough to galvanise a true comeback from the opposition and England held on for the win and their first ever major tournament title in the box lacrosse format.

You can relive the game in full HERE.

England Points: Lyndon Bunio (2G 4A), Dave Groves (1G 2A), Elliot Leonard (3G 1A), Matt Marsh (3G), Tyson Roe (1G), Dan Watson (1G).

Saturday 6 August Results

Austria 17-9 Poland | Cons.
Belgium 17-6 Ireland | Cons.
Slovakia 12-8 Switzerland | 5th Place Games
Czech Republic 15-8 Finland | 3rd Place Game
England 11-8 Germany | Final

England reach European Championship final with one goal win over Czech Republic

Albert Whitehead celebrates England's semi-final win over Czech Republic

Image Credit: Marek Stor/shutterlax.com

England reached a first ever major tournament final after they defeated Czech Republic 13-12 in a tight and tense semi-final match at the 2022 European Box Lacrosse Championship.

It was really a tale of two defences and how to break them down with both teams showing the quality they have at the back.

England started with high energy and huge intent and were ahead after a couple of minutes as Dan Watson smashed one in after some tricky work from Matt Marsh around the crease.

And they were able to double their lead a minute later, as Cameron Macleod showed great vision to pass to Tom Bracegirdle, who was making an up field run and then used his skill, speed, and strength to get past a Czech Republic defender and slot home.

It was always going to be a tough match against the team who finished second at the inaugural European Box Lacrosse Championship five years ago and Czech Republic got themselves level in no time at all after goals from Tomáš Procházka and Dominik Pešek.

Even after just one quarter, from a spectator point of view, this was the best game England had been involved in in the tournament so far and they edged themselves back in front shortly after the restart; Dan Watson scoring his second of the day with a great shot that rippled the top left corner of the Czech Republic net.

But such is the nature of box lacrosse, Czech Republic found themselves level once again with the very next attack. Pešek grabbing the goal this time.

Saying the first half of this game was end-to-end is somewhat of an understatement and a rare Taylor Harrison goal for England was followed up by another equaliser for the opposition.

England then found themselves in unfamiliar territory as Czech Republic scored through Tomáš Hájek who pounced on an uncharacteristic lapse in England defensive concentration to find acres of space and score one-on one with Macleod.

Being a goal down in a game is something England hadn’t had to contend with since their opening game against Scotland but they dealt with the set-back with ultimate professionalism; by continuing to play their game and trust in the process.

It took a little bit of magic though and Matt Marsh was there to provide when called upon, scoring with an exceptional behind the back shot after Luke Mills had worked the ball up the pitch.

Unfortunately, Czech Republic equalised again within two minutes but that’s when England really turned it on heading into half-time.

Marsh, seemingly having got the taste for it, scored his second and England’s sixth 18 seconds after Czech Republic got their noses in front and then Lyndon Bunio scored a screamer after being played in by Dave Groves.

Half-time. 7-6. Finely poised.

England came back out after the break and were able to maintain the head of steam they’d built up at the back end of the second quarter and scored through Elliot Leonard after the other rEngland attackers had guided the Czech Republic defenders away from goal.

Another goal for the opposition came but, by the standards of this game, England were running away with it now.

Bunio scored a fantastic individual goal after running around the goal, dodging past a defender, and placing his shot in the top corner before Jordi Jones-Smith, who only scores spectacular goals, picked up the ball just outside the defensive crease, sprinted 25 yards and fired home!

Jamie Powell added to his steady stream of goals at this tournament with another shortly after Czech Republic added an 8th and England headed into the final period three goals ahead after a late goal by the opposition.

The England fans were getting into full voice now and were called into action after a Czech Republic player wasn’t happy with the way Bunio dived across the crease for a shot, even mimicking it to the officials.

This 7th player, a secret weapon for England at the European Championship so far, helped push Ben Buchanan towards goal and score after some patient play around the opposition net.

What was a fairly healthy lead for England all things considered became very fragile as Czech Republic scored three without reply to leave the scores at 13-12 heading into the final one minute and 10 seconds.

A timeout for Czech Republic with 43 seconds left on the clock and one for England with 19 seconds left yielded no further goals and England head through to Saturday’s final where they’ll play Germany for a chance to win the trophy!

Watch the game live HERE or follow play by play updates on the England Lacrosse Twitter page.

England Points: Tom Bracegirdle (1G), Lyndon Bunio (2G 2A), Ben Buchanan (1G), Taylor Harrison (1G), Jordi Jones-Smith (1G), Elliot Leonard (1G 1A), Matt Marsh (2G 1A), Jamie Powell (1G 2A), Tyson Roe (1G), Dan Watson (2G 1A).

Friday 5 August Schedule (times BST)

Netherlands v Belgium | 12.30pm | Cons.
Austria v Serbia | 14.45pm | Cons.
Poland v Ireland | 15.30pm | Cons.
Scotland v Sweden | 18.30pm | 7th Place Game

Saturday 6 August Schedule (times BST)

Austria v Poland | 08.45am | Cons.
Belgium v Ireland | 09.30am | Cons.
Slovakia v Switzerland | 12.30pm | 5th Place Game
Czech Republic v Finland | 15.30pm | 3rd Place Game
England v Germany | 18.30pm | Final

England secure semi-final spot with superb win over Sweden

England players queue up before the National Anthems before the quarter-final

Czech Republic await England in the semi-finals of the 2022 European Box Lacrosse Championship after a brilliant 19-7 win over Sweden in their quarter-final match.

Dan Watson and Lyndon Bunio, who have been unplayable at times during the tournament so far, scored four goals each, taking their individual tallies to nine and 12 respectively.

And despite an early showing from Sweden in the first quarter and somewhat of a comeback in the third, England were good for the win.

England started with intent and found themselves in front after just 20 seconds when Elliot Leonard continued his fantastic scoring run with a simple finish just outside the crease.

Shortly after, Bunio scored his first of the day after some deceptive work between him and Watson left the Sweden defence for dead and he was able to finish with ease.

Sweden proved they weren’t just there to make up the numbers, however, as they regrouped and scored first through Kevin Powers and then through August Snyder to equalise.

With this wake-up call in mind, England kicked into gear at the end of the first quarter and Dave Groves bagged a goal before Jordi Jones-Smith and Ming Trinh bullied a Sweden defender back over the halfway line to allow Tyson Roe to pick up the resulting dead ball, sprint towards goal and finish.

The second quarter followed much of the same script except England seemed intent on killing the game early with a string of goals.

Tom Bracegirdle emulated the goal he scored in the previous game against Switzerland by catching the ball in space, powering towards goal, feigning to go high, then finishing with a low shot with Bunio scoring his second, and England’s sixth, shortly after before Watson hit his first of the game.

Then England hit a bit of a rocky patch as they had a series of penalties called against them resulting in them playing two men down for a large chunk of the second quarter.

But once they were back level on players, they continued their run of fine finishing; Jones-Smith scored a rare but impressive eighth for England as he received the ball with his back to goal, blocked the defenders attempts at checking, before turning and scoring with a diving shot and Leonard completed the half’s goals as he hammered the ball past the Sweden goalie from range.

At half-time, Head Coach, Walt Christianson’s instructions were for England to kill the game off and his players seemed intent on fulfilling his wishes early in the third, with Groves and Trinh scoring before Bunio’s impressive individual goal, with as casual a finish you’re ever likely to see, completing his hat-trick.

A Jamie Powell goal came just before a period dominance from the opposition as Sweden scored three without reply, despite Eliot Pugh’s best efforts in the England goal.

Those five minutes in the third quarter proved to come back to haunt the Sweden players as England began their own six goal without reply run after being clearly irked by Sweden’s goals.

Watson scored his second after some tireless work from Powell, Bunio evaded the Sweden defenders and claimed his fourth, Watson completed his hat-trick and then snatched a fourth, finishing a superb passage of England play in style, Ben Buchanan scored his first goal at the tournament much to the delight of his team mates, and Trinh finished the scoring with 20 seconds left to wrap up the game for his team.

In the late quarter-final game, Czech Republic overcame Switzerland in a 23-5 rout to set-up a mouthwatering semi-final tie with England tomorrow at 15.30pm BST that you can watch HERE.

England Points: Tom Bracegirdle (1G 1A), Lyndon Bunio (4G 3A), Ben Buchanan (1G), Dave Groves (2G), Jordi Jones-Smith (1G 1A), Elliot Leonard (2G 2A), Jamie Powell (1G 3A), Tyson Roe (1G), Ming Trinh (2G), Dan Watson (4G 3A).

England MVP: Eliot Pugh.

Thursday 4 August Schedule (times BST)

Belgium v Austria | 08.45am | Cons.
Ireland v Netherlands | 09.30 | Cons.
Sweden v Switzerland | 12.30pm | sf2
Slovakia v Scotland | 12.45pm | sf1
England v Czech Republic | 15.30pm | SF1
Germany v Finland | 18.30pm | SF2

England reach quarter-finals against stubborn Switzerland

Lyndon Bunio and Dan Watson congratulate Elliot Leonard on his goal

Image Credit: Marek Stor/shutterlax.com

England secured their spot in the quarter-finals after a big 14-5 win over Switzerland at the 2022 European Box Lacrosse Championship.

Elliot Leonard scored four, including three in the second half while star attacker, Lyndon Bunio, hit his second hat-trick of the tournament in the win.

But it wasn’t all plain sailing as it took England the first quarter to work Switzerland out and truly impress themselves upon the game.

Indeed it was Switzerland who drew first blood with one minute 52 seconds on the clock as Florian Bachmann scored after some patient play.

Dan Watson was able to equalise almost immediately but Switzerland edged in front once again through Sebastian Heri following some nice work behind the goal in a frantic first three minutes or so.

Switzerland were tight in defence and parked the bus, successfully denying England any concrete chances on goal.

But if you’re ever looking to get out of a sticky situation then Bunio’s your man and he came up trumps in the second quarter with two quick fire goals to pull England ahead.

After a period of England pressure, Bunio first scored from range after finding a little pocket of space in front of goal and then slotted home after some tricky work around the goal.

Jamie Powell finally afforded England some breathing space after latching onto an upfield pass, sprinting through the Switzerland defence, and sending a nice high to low shot into the net.

It was one way traffic then for the remainder of the second quarter and Tyson Roe showed his pedigree four minutes from the half, picking up the ball in the England defensive third, sprinting towards goal and scoring through the goalie’s legs.

Leonard and Groves got in on the action too before the half-time hooter to see England finish the second quarter the stronger and head over to Head Coach, Christianson, for the half-time team talk 7-3 up.

The third quarter was a tight battle fought between two good quality and hard-working defences and it was Switzerland who looked the more likely to score but England’s previous game’s MVP and goalkeeper Cameron Macleod kept the opposition out.

It was Leonard who finally broke the stalemate with the second of his four goals and the only point of the quarter after his hugely stuttered run up tricked the Switzerland defence.

But what took them over 10 minutes to do in the third took them just 35 seconds in the fourth when Powell scored from 11 yards out.

The game opened up from this point becoming end to end in every sense of the phrase! A fourth Switzerland goal was replied with a fantastic individual effort from face-off specialist Tom Bracegirdle who won a ground ball in front of the defensive crease, turned on the speed, faked to go high, and scored through the goalie’s legs.

Bunio’s hat-trick goal followed a fifth for Switzerland and this time a trademark shot while diving across the crease was enough to beat the ‘keeper.

And when Bunio’s hat-trick was complete, soon followed Leonard’s, who completed a superb piece of play that saw Macleod pass to Luke Mills who drew the Switzerland defenders before passing across goal to Leonard to finish with aplomb.

With the game coming to a close, Leonard scored his fourth and England 14th in almost identical fashion to see England overcome Switzerland and advance too the quarter-finals.

England will now return to the Eisarena for a quarter-final match-up against Sweden, a team they defeated just five days ago in a pre-tournament scrimmage.

Coverage of that match will start at 1.30pm CEST/12.30pm BST over on sportdeutschland.tv and across England Lacrosse social media.

England Points: Dan Watson (1G 1A), Lyndon Bunio (3G 3A), Jamie Powell (2G 1A), Tyson Roe (2G), Elliot Leonard (4G 1A), Tom Bracegirdle (1G), Dave Groves (1G).

Wednesday 3 August Schedule (times BST)

Austria v Ireland | 08.45am | Cons.
Scotland v Germany | 09.30am | QF2
Sweden v England | 12.30pm | QF1
Poland v Belgium | Cons. | 12.45pm
Slovakia v Finland | QF3 | 15.30pm
Netherlands v Serbia | Cons. | 16.45pm
Czech Republic v Switzerland | QF4 | 18.30pm

England makes it two wins out of two with victory over Ireland

Four of the England team celebrate after scoring against Ireland!

Image Credit: Marek Stor/shutterlax.com

England claimed their second successive victory at the 2022 European Box Lacrosse Championship after securing a 12-5 win over rivals Ireland.

Four goals from the energetic Matt Marsh along with a hat-trick from the ever dependable Lyndon Bunio ensured that England left the Eisarena with the win, despite a frustrating, feisty, and bitty second half.

England, who came into this game off the back of a closer than expected 13-8 victory over Scotland on the opening day of the tournament, couldn’t have asked for a better start as Marsh opened the scoring after just 43 seconds.

And, just as it looked like Ireland might be getting a foothold, Bunio was able to latch onto an upfield pass and score on the turn.

This second goal for England after four minutes knocked the wind out of Ireland’s sail and England were able to deny them any meaningful possession for much of the rest of the half.

England had chance after chance; first, Albert Whitehead saw his shot stopped easily before Marsh was denied by an unbelievable diving save by the Ireland goalie.

But it was only a matter of time before England grabbed their third and it was through Bunio once again who was in the right place at the right time in front of goal to catch, leap across the crease, and score.

Something of a trademark for this England team, Dave Groves also got in on the action with his own version of the dive across the crease goal, after he’d attacked the Ireland goal from a tight angle for England’s fourth.

Despite a shaky start to the second quarter and thanks to some help from eventual Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the match, goalkeeper, Cameron Macleod, England were able to weather the small Ireland storm and see it to half-time, while also adding two more goals courtesy of England’s opening day hat-trick hero, Dan Watson, and Marsh once again.

Whatever Ireland’s coaching team said to their players during the half-time team talk clearly had an impact and the team from across the Irish Sea were a different beast in the third quarter, scoring their first goal a couple of minutes in.

England were able to retain their six goal lead after Jamie Powell sold two Ireland defenders with a fake shot before hammering the ball into the top corner.

At this point, Ireland showed their quality by scoring three without reply and frustrating the England players with their aggressive style of play.

With the score at 7-4 and Ireland looking the more likely to push for more, England showed why they’re ranked fifth in the world first through Bunio who snatched his hat-trick and then through Whitehead who picked up the ball on the halfway line and broke quickly with Tom Bracegirdle in a two on one situation.

And when Bracegirdle blocked the run of one of the Ireland defenders, Whitehead was able to take a free hit at goal, which he did perfectly, scoring through the goalie’s legs.

The opening minutes of the fourth and final quarter proved to be the Matt Marsh show as he scored his third and fourth goals in front of the adoring England fans up in the stands and effectively putting an end to any glimmer of an Ireland comeback.

From this point onward, the game took a turn and a series of fouls led to England being granted two penalty points; Ireland did not have enough players on the field to continue the game so the game was stopped and England were given the opportunity to score one on one with the goalie.

On both occasions, England missed the chance to pull further ahead but they did manage to finish the game off in style through Whitehead’s second goal of the game with just one minute and nine seconds remaining after he picked up the ball in the attacking third, faked a couple of shots and scored.

With that win, England top Pool D and will play winners of Pool C, Switzerland, who are also unbeaten so far, in the crossover game tomorrow at 6.30pm BST.

England Points: Matt Marsh (4G), Lyndon Bunio (3G 2A), Albert Whitehead (2G), Dave Groves (1G), Dan Watson (1G, 1A), Jamie Powell (1G)

Crossover Schedule (Tuesday 2 August, times BST)

Serbia v Ireland | 09.30am
Slovakia v Austria | 12.30pm
Belgium v Scotland | 15.15pm
Netherlands v Poland | 15.30pm
England v Switzerland | 18.30pm

Watson hat-trick earns England perfect Euro 2022 start

Dan Watson leaps across the crease to take a shot on goal against Scotland at the 2022 European Box Lacrosse Championship

Image Credit: Marek Stor/shutterlax.com

An excellent final quarter that saw England score four and concede just one ensured they made the perfect start to the 2022 European Box Lacrosse Championship against Scotland.

A hat-trick from Dan Watson as well as braces for Elliot Leonard, Matt Marsh, Lyndon Bunio, and Jordi Jones-Smith eventually saw England earn a deserved 13-8 win over their close rivals.

It wasn’t all plain sailing though and England were made to work for their victory, finding themselves 6-4 down in the second quarter and going in for half-time at seven all.

And it was Scotland’s main man, Cole Paciejewski, who proved to be the thorn in England’s side as his relentless style saw him bag four goals in a frantic first half.

England’s ability to remain calm under pressure and trust in their abilities paid dividends in the second half, however, as they scored six, including a fantastic individual effort from Jones-Smith who picked up the ball in defence, broke quickly, and fired home, while conceding only two.

With seven different scorers and the team successfully defending Paciejewski out of the game in the second half, Head Coach, Walt Christianson, will be pleased with what he saw and will be optimistic about the prospects for this England team going forward at this Championship.

Next up for England, it’s another Home Nations derby as they take on Ireland at 3.30pm BST on Monday afternoon.

You can find out how to watch that game as well as all the others at the Championship HERE.

England Points: Dan Watson (3G 2A), Elliot Leonard (2G 1A), Lyndon Bunio (2G 2A), Jordi Jones-Smith (2G), Matt Marsh (2G), Will Allsop (1G), Dave Groves (1G 1A)

England Lacrosse supports Active Summer Challenge

Three girls listen to their coach at England Lacrosse's Triple Arrow Camps

England Lacrosse is delighted to support the Youth Sport Trust’s Active Summer Challenge which aims to encourage as many children and young people as possible to remain active over the summer.

The Active Summer Challenge sets children and young people a series of challenges (one challenge per week), each related to exciting moments of sport that are taking place through the summer.

The challenges are fully inclusive from a socio-economic background perspective, and also easily adjusted for pupils with SEND. A core part of the challenge is that children will set their own pledge and add in how many minutes they were physically active for each day.

Research has found that one in four year six pupils are obese with 2.4 million young people active for less than 30 minutes per day while 53% of young people believe their social wellbeing has suffered since the Covid pandemic.

The Active Summer Challenge aims to get some of these children and young people moving as well as celebrate the fantastic sports events happening in July and August, from the UEFA’s Women’s EURO 2022 to the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

The Challenge will help children be active every day by setting their own pledge and taking part in the six weekly challenges.

There are resources for teachers to help launch this challenge in schools, fun activity cards for children and links to some lots of amazing content from sport organisations. You’ll find everything you need on the dedicated website HERE

How do you set the activity pledge?

  • The aim should be to reach the Chief Medical Officer's guidelines for physical activity. This is 60 minutes a day of moderate to vigorous activity or a minimum of 20 minutes a day for children with a disability. You can build up to 60 or 20 minutes across the day – it doesn’t need to be in one burst. 

  • Choose an activity – or different activities – that are enjoyable. Having fun is a key motivator for children, so supporting them to plan a fun activity, perhaps linking up with friends and family, or something you could do alongside them, would help keep them engaged.  

  • The pledge can be simple – it might be participating in the Daily Mile, playing their favourite sport, walking to and playing in their local park with friends, doing a set number or minutes of an action like star jumps, doing all the 10 minute Summer Shake Up activities in the holidays, or choosing videos to complete from the Active Recovery Hub. 

  • Use the pledge tracker to write down the pledge and record what activity takes place every day. There’s a certificate available for teachers to celebrate children’s achievements as they return to school in September. 

Alongside their pledge, six weekly activity cards with a challenge focused on a sport or activity have been created; these are fun and inclusive with all the information provided on each page for each week.

For further inspiration, you can use the active recovery hub to find activities suitable for individual needs across a wide range of sports. 

Once children have completed their pledge and the challenges, there is a certificate for you to keep and celebrate all your good work.

And if you want to make your Active Summer Challenge lacrosse-specific, we’ve created our own handy challenge for you to try!

How to watch England at the European Box Lacrosse Championship

England player attempting to tackle a Finland player at the 2019 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship

After a wait of two years due to the coronavirus pandemic, the England box lacrosse team begin their 2022 European Box Lacrosse Championship campaign on Saturday against neighbours, Scotland.

Two days later, on Monday afternoon, they’ll play their second and final pool stage game against Ireland for a spot in the quarter-final.

Last month, Head Coach, Walt Christianson and his team of coaches announced their 25-player squad to head to Hannover, Germany for the Championship and they travelled yesterday on the back of a victory in a scrimmage with an all-stars team during their final training session on home soil in June.

Over the next few days, they’ll have an outdoor training session on and an exhibition game (TBC) before a final training session on Friday ahead of the game against Scotland on Saturday.

Every game at the tournament, including every England game, will be streamed live on sportdeutschland.tv but you’ll be able to keep up to date with all things England throughout the Championship on the England Lacrosse social media (Twitter/Facebook/Instagram).

Pool Stage Streaming Schedule (all timings BST)

Saturday 30 July

08.30 | England v Scotland
09.15 | Sweden v Belgium
11.30 | Finland v Serbia
13.15 | Slovakia v Serbia
14.30 | Austria v Switzerland
19.00 | Czech Republic v Germany

Sunday 31 July

09.30 | Scotland v Ireland
11.45 | Germany v Slovakia
12.30 | Belgium v Finland
15.30 | Serbia v Sweden
15.45 | Poland v Czech Republic
18.30 | Netherlands v Austria

Monday 1 August

08.45 | Finland v Sweden
09.30 | Czech Republic v Slovakia
12.45 | Netherlands v Switzerland
15.30 | Ireland v England
15.45 | Serbia v Belgium
18.30 | Germany v Poland

Registration opens for England Lacrosse mixed lacrosse leagues

Two players battle it out at the mixed lacrosse game at the National Club Championships 2022

Registration has opened this week for the England Lacrosse mixed lacrosse leagues for the 2022/23 season with entry for this year open to all England Lacrosse affiliated clubs and universities.

Mixed leagues’ fixtures typically take place on Sundays from October through to March with teams split into local/regional based leagues depending on the geographical spread of entries.

All teams will play each other both home and away in their regional league and teams will be responsible for sourcing and booking facilities for their home games and arranging transport for away games.

The entry cost for this season is £90 per team and all players competing in the EL Mixed Leagues must be aged 18 or over and hold a current England Lacrosse Individual Membership.

Registration is open until Monday 29 August; fixtures will be released by 5 September with first matches set for the weekend of 8/9 October.

Southern Box Lacrosse to host Box Fest this September

Box Fest information graphic

Southern Box Lacrosse is set to host Box Fest, a tournament featuring four drafted teams and over nine hours of box lacrosse, on Sunday 18 September.

Taking place at the home of box lacrosse in the south of England, the 3G Dome at Oxford Academy, the tournament will also feature a bespoke women’s session, although women are encouraged to sign up to play in the main tournament too.

The day is sure to be packed full of box lacrosse with games taking place every 30 minutes starting from 10.30am until 8pm and each game containing two 10-minute halves.

Southern Box Lacrosse has announced the women’s session will provisionally run between 12-1.30pm and the mechanics for the team draft for the main tournament will be released in due course.

Sign up for Box Fest is now live with the cost of an individual wanting to play in the main tournament set at £30 and the cost for the women’s session at £15.

Southern Box Lacrosse is an organisation that aims to promote box lacrosse in the south of England and encourage people to take up the sport; they organise several box lacrosse-specific events throughout the year as well as assist with the senior England team set-up too.

England Lacrosse announce VYPR SPORTS as official grip sock partner

England Lacrosse logo with VYPR Sports logo

England Lacrosse is delighted to announce VYPR SPORTS as our official grip sock partner, providing high quality performance sports socks to our England teams in 2022.

The new partnership covers our England women’s, box, and U21 men’s teams throughout the summer as they compete in the World Lacrosse Women’s World Championship, European Box Lacrosse Championship, and World Lacrosse Men’s U21 World Championship respectively.

VYPR SPORTS are a sports brand who specialise in high quality grip socks for performance athletes who are looking for marginal gains within their sport.

The doctrine of marginal gains states that in any area of a given sport – no matter how small or apparently insignificant – you should look to make all possible improvements.

VYPR SPORTS believe that footwear, in particular grip socks, is a specific area where significant marginal gains can be not only captured, but also felt.

Their trademarked foot stability technologies within each sock secures the wearer’s foot inside their boot/shoe reducing the chance of slippage resulting in maintained power when changing direction at pace.

VYPR SPORT technology also includes anatomical shaping, and targeted arch support to ensure the best fit of the sock to your foot.  When combined with the technical grip, the chances of blisters are dramatically reduced.  Structure compression aids support and helps to prevent swelling through increased blood circulation.  This, in turn helps stimulate quicker recovery.  The inclusion of premium yarns, and technologies applied to yarns such as Drirelease® in the Suregrip® Lite sock, gives 4 x faster wicking capabilities than the average sock which helps keep feet drier for longer. Strategically placed venting also help promote both breathability and wicking.

As our England teams look to perform to their best in each summer tournament, England Lacrosse Head of Commercial & Marketing, Caroline Royle, believes VYPR SPORTS can assist the teams in reaching that next level.

“Our England teams are always striving to be the best and we believe this new partnership with VYPR SPORTS can help us achieve that with their high quality, high performance, and elite athlete approved grip socks.

“We’re delighted to have VYPR SPORTS onboard as we enter an exciting period for lacrosse in England and on the international stage.

“Having worked with numerous top elite athletes in sports such as football, rugby, netball and numerous other sporting disciplines, VYPR SPORTS is a leader in their field and can help propel our England teams to the next level this summer.”

Roger Orr, Managing Director at  VYPR SPORTS, commented:

“We are delighted and thrilled to be entering into this partnership with England Lacrosse.  We see this as a fantastic opportunity to showcase our performance grip socks on such an exciting, exhilarating, and fast paced sport.  We look forward to a long, ongoing partnership with England Lacrosse.”

England box team to host supporters thank-you event in Hannover

England player challenges for the ball during a face-off

The England 2022 European Box Lacrosse Championship squad and coaches are set to host a thank-you event to show their appreciation to those who travel to the tournament to support the team.

Entitled ‘Meet Team England’, the event, which will take place on Friday 5 August between 5-7pm at the team hotel in Hannover, Germany, will be the perfect opportunity for the squad to thank those supporters who make the journey and for the fans to meet and chat with the England squad and support staff.

The thank-you event will take place the evening before England’s final game at the European Championship which could be a fifth place game, a third place game, or a final (!) but the team are hoping it’ll be a good chance for them to relax before finals day.

A supporters pack is available HERE for those travelling to the tournament which contains more details about the location of the team hotel.

Read more about the 23-player England squad heading to Germany HERE and the competition schedule for the team HERE.

England Lacrosse supports Sport Relief's Move 22 campaign

Move 22 graphics that says Get Ready to Move for Change

England Lacrosse is delighted to support Sport Relief’s Move 22 campaign which aims to get people moving every day from 28 July to 8 August to mark the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

A collaboration between Sport Relief, United by 2022, and the Commonwealth Sport Foundation, Move 22 aims to raise money for Sport Relief to help tackle inequality, improve mental health, and help young people to survive and thrive.

Move 22 is asking people to move 22 miles (or do something memorable 22 times) over the 12 days of the 2022 Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham.

To sign up, simply complete the Move 22 registration form HERE and you’ll be able to order an exclusive t-shirt as well as set up a JustGiving page.

Then, all you have to do is pick your challenge (run, swim, cycle, pogo - as long as you move 22 miles, it’s up to you), drum up support with the help of Sport Relief’s digital tools, and complete your challenge during the 12 days of the Games.

The 2022 Commonwealth Games is the third Games to be held in England and the first for 20 years when the 2002 edition was held in Manchester.

It is expected that over 5,000 athletes from 72 Commonwealth nations will take part in what will be the 23rd edition of the Commonwealth Games.