England missed out on a 2022 World Lacrosse U21 Men’s World Championship semi-final after a close 7-5 defeat to the Haudenosaunee in the quarter-final.
Five goals from Gregory Elijah-Brown ensured victory for the Haudenosaunee despite a huge effort from England who previously lost to the same opponent 13-3 in their opening pool stage game last week.
Head Coach, Ryan Garnsworthy, switched things up in this second match-up and it worked a treat with the defence and goalie, Sam Rogerson, having an almost perfect game.
After a tense opening eight minutes or so that included a couple of chances for both sides, the Haudenosaunee finally drew first blood when they found themselves a man up and used it to their advantage through Elijah-Brown.
Two minutes later, they’d doubled their lead again through Elijah-Brown who fired home after the Haudenosaunee had retained possession on the back line after a wayward shot.
As quarter time approached, Rogerson was called into action for the fourth time as he saved well down low after a Haudenosaunee shot.
England came back out for the second quarter looking to turn their good play and possession into goals and that’s exactly what they did one minute in when Danny Hilditch sped towards goal and scored just outside of the crease.
And they forced themselves level when Ed Loveland hammered home from distance with 16 minutes left of the half.
The game seemed to open up from here and the Haudenosaunee went back in front when Koleton Marquis played a defence-splitting pass to Keelan Seneca who scored from close range.
But England were level again in no time at all through Hilditch who picked up the ball 15 yards from goal and leathered his shot past the Haudenosaunee goalie to make the score 3-3.
The Haudenosaunee were determined to go into the half-time break ahead and they pushed and pushed for the final five minutes, forcing Rogerson into another save, this time with his knees from point blank range, before scoring their fourth with 40 seconds left when Elijah-Brown grabbed his hat-trick.
After the break, the Haudenosaunee came out quick and put themselves two goals ahead when Mason Homer scored with the first chance of the second half.
England worked their way back into the game and reduced the deficit to one when Dan Jones hit his first goal of the tournament after being played in by Drew Bickerton.
The game was starting to get feisty as both teams looked to gain a bit of dominance and Hilditch almost had his hat-trick when his shot was saved after some patient work in front of goal with England a man up.
But it was the Haudenosaunee who regained their two goal lead when Elijah-Brown scored his fourth and England’s search for a semi-final became that much harder with 43 seconds left of the quarter when Elijah-Brown scored his fifth, and thankfully final, of the day.
England weren’t done yet in the third, however, as Hugo Peel, fresh from his brace in yesterday’s win over Israel, flung one in from distance to make the score 7-5 heading into the fourth.
The final quarter was a masterclass in lacrosse tactics from both teams as the Haudenosaunee looked to see out the final 15 minutes and England attempted to force their way back into contention.
It was end to end with 10 minutes left in the game as Peel had two shots saved while the Haudenosaunee had two shots ping off the pipe; England then hit the post themselves when Bickerton fired a shot towards goal.
Then, as England looked to score the two goals they needed to take the game to overtime and with 52 seconds left on the clock, they called a stick check on a Haudenosaunee defender and when his stick was adjudged to be illegal, they called another one which again was found to be illegal.
This was completely within the rules and resulted in the Haudenosaunee effectively finishing the game two men down.
England weren’t able to capitalise on the two man advantage and the opposition held out for a narrow 7-5 victory.
Next up for England is Jamaica at 5pm tomorrow as they start their bid to finish fifth at the Championship!
England Points: Danny Hilditch (2G 1A), Dan Jones (1G), Ed Loveland (1G), Hugo Peel (1G).
Thursday 18 August Schedule (times BST)
Netherlands v Korea | 10.00
China v Kenya | 11.00
Israel v Japan | 12.00
Hong Kong, China v Sweden | 13.00
Poland v Wales | 14.00
Germany v Ireland | 15.00
Australia v Canada | 16.00
Jamaica v England | 17.00
Czech Republic v Puerto Rico | 18.00
USA v Haudenosaunee | 19.00
