Canada showcased its tireless brand of lacrosse with another comprehensive win in the semifinals of the 2024 World Lacrosse Women’s U20 Championship, a 17-2 takedown of the No. 4 seed Japan.
Canada advanced to the gold medal game for the third women’s U20 championship in a row, dating back to 2015.
Canada will take on the United States to round out a trilogy of heavyweight bouts between in the gold medal game, set for Saturday at 6:30 p.m. HKT at Mong Kok Stadium.
Canada claimed the gold in 2015 in Edinburgh, Scotland, but the United States knocked off Canada on its home soil in Peterborough in 2019.
Japan will face Australia in the bronze medal match on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. HKT, in search of its first ever medal at a WL Championship against the defending third place finisher.
On Thursday evening at Mong Kok Stadium, Japan brought its energy and effective defense with an attention to detail that has backed up its semifinal run. Canada’s nonstop cutting still proved to be too much to handle, and while possessions required Canada’s patience to find the right look in front of net, the attack still flourished.
Lauren Black scored the first goal on a free position shot and Emily Dodd added a pair to grow the lead to 3-0 over six minutes.
Canada eased to a 5-0 lead by the end of the first quarter, and a 10-0 lead through 24 minutes of action.
Beth Anderson could not be stopped on draw controls for Canada, with a six of six win rate in the first period and an 11-2 edge overall in the first half.
Canada continued its methodical control of the game through the end with a 4-0 scoreline in the third and an 3-1 line in the fourth.
Maggie Cuddy finished as the player of the match with her indefatigable work rate up and down the field, pressuring Japan whenever it had the ball. She claimed an assist, two ground balls and one caused turnover.
Jami Macdonald notched five goals and two assists to spark the offense, and Lauren Black tallied three goals and three assists.
Anderson finished 18 of 23 on draw controls with 17 collections herself.
Lauren Spence made six saves when called upon to halt Japan’s best attacking possessions.
For Japan, Yuria Miki had a strong night in net, with 10 saves on 21 shots faced to slow Canada.
