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Canada and Haudenosaunee continue storied rivalry in pool play

By: Madison Hricik
Twitter/X: @SportingMads

Every year at the World Lacrosse Box Championships, the men’s gold medal game has been the same two foes — Canada and Haudenosaunee. 

These two programs have forged a rivalry where every championship features the best against the best. The rosters are filled with experience with players competing collegiately and professionally. The intensity is at an all-time high for all 60 minutes of action.

Canada and Haudenosaunee haven’t always met in pool play in the box championships but for the third straight edition of the event the two have met in the opening stages of action.

It was a championship-caliber game during both teams’ second game of the tournament. The physicality, agility and tempo matched the expectations of a gold medal game. 

“That would be the best word to use, rivalry,” Haudenosaunee head coach Roger Chrysler said. “You bring out the best in each other, and you see it out there: very emotional, very intense.”

Canada took the pool play matchup, 13-10, but the two teams could meet again in the playoffs if the matchups break the right way.

“You’re seeing 40 of the best players in the world,” Canada head coach Glenn Clark said. “You have rosters loaded with international talent, and you get these types of entertaining games — fast-paced and all that kind of stuff.”

The intensity of the Canada-Haudenosaunee rivalry has made it consistently one of most competitive matchups. The two rosters have held a lacrosse stick for most of their lives, and in some cases, nearly their entire life. 

Canada and Haudenosaunee players have grown up together, playing lacrosse as children, competing in juniors or college, and even facing each other in the pros. These athletes know each other on and off the field. It adds a layer of pride to these games, and an extra challenge. 

“You know guys that are on your NLL team, and then you’re playing against them in the summer and then against them in a championship like that,” Canada’s Wesley Berg said. “It’s pretty special.”

Then comes the pride in this rivalry: Canada hasn’t lost. There’s pressure on the five-time champions to bring a sixth title back to Canada. Meanwhile, the Haudenosaunee are hungry for their first win and make history with a gold medal. 

“Nobody wants to be on that team that’s lost,” Clark said. “So there is overt pressure in that, and I think the guys need to let the game come to them, as opposed to carrying this heavy hat.”

The Haudenosaunee had fallen behind early in Sunday’s pool play match, but mounted a comeback in the second half to tie the game at 10-all. They put that pressure on Canada, forcing them to withstand the Haudenosaunee attack. 

Chrysler said the comeback was exactly what wanted his team to do — they didn’t let the score or pressure bother them, but instead stuck together.

“It helps that in a comeback like this, it took each and every one of the guys on that bench to not give up on their brother,” Chrysler said. “We knew we had to stand up in front of them, and that’s where that bond we do have comes out.”

If these two foes meet again in playoff play, the stakes will be higher, the pressure greater and the intensity jolted up even more. 

Whenever they meet again, the Canada and Haudenosaunee promise to deliver exciting chapters in each edition of the rivalry.

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