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Semifinal Games: Canada – England | United States – Haudenosaunee
Placement Games: Puerto Rico – Belgium | Australia – Finland | Netherlands – Germany | Hong Kong, China – Greece | Czechia – Japan | Poland – Chinese Taipei | Hungary – Mexico | Scotland – Austria | Jamaica – Switzerland | Israel – Ireland
Canada – England
Canada dominated England in a 20-3 semifinal win to punch its ticket back to the gold medal game for the sixth men’s box championship in a row.
Canada led 7-0 after 20 minutes, and Canada’s two-way brilliance persisted for the rest of the contest.
A well-balanced effort from Canada resulted in five goals for Robert Church, four for Josh Byrne, and hat-tricks by Dhane Smith (four assists) and Jeff Teat (five assists). Goalkeeper Dillon Ward saved 19 of 22 shots.
England’s goals came from Jack Royer (two) and Albert Whitehead. Starting goalie Cam MacLeod saved 49 of 66 shots. Jacob Brindle played the fourth quarter and saved 13 of 16.
The shots on goal disparity, which favored Canada 82-22, reflected Canada’s superior ball control.
Canada will face the United States on Sunday for the gold medal, and England will face the Haudenosaunee in the bronze medal game on Saturday evening.
United States – Haudenosaunee
The United States stunned the Haudenosaunee 12-11 in an instant classic to advance to the gold medal game for the first time ever in the men’s box championship.
The U.S. has taken bronze in the past five editions of the event while the Haudenosaunee have taken silver, but Friday night’s result at the Adirondack Bank Center flipped the scripts in an epic nailbiter.
The United States led first at 2-0 and 4-3 with a minute left in the first quarter, but the Haudenosaunee was a step ahead the rest of the way, leading 6-4, 8-7, 9-8, and ultimately, 11-9 with nine minutes to go.
But the United States pulled off a monumental fourth quarter comeback with a goal from Joey Spallina to tie the game less than 90 seconds after going down two goals.
The teams traded nervy possessions but in a moment of transition, Connor Kirst fired home the game-winning goal on a shot from distance.
The Haudenosaunee had their chances in the final minutes to tie the game, including a point-blank shot from Lyle Thompson with under 30 seconds to play, but Gowah Abrams came up with a clutch save to preserve the lead.
Spallina, the United States’ youngest player, led the team with three goals and an assist in a gutsy performance with two of his goals tying the game.
Connor Kirst finished with two goals and Jack Hannah and Joe Resitarits posted two goals and two assists.
Eli McLaughlin and Randy Staats led the Haudenosaunee with four points each.
Abrams made 43 saves for the United States while Doug Jamieson made 50 for the Haudenosaunee.
The United States’ gold medal match against Canada is set for Sunday at 4 p.m.
The Haudenosaunee will take on England on Saturday at 7:15 p.m.
Puerto Rico – Belgium
Puerto Rico outlasted Belgium 16-13 in placement play after an electric fourth quarter that featured 11 goals.
Will Ramos and Lance Yapor led the way for Puerto Rico with a hat-trick and three assists each. The team netted five times in the fourth quarter, two of which came from Owen Fasulka, accounting for all his goals. He added three assists.
Kyle Baker was Belgium’s focal point offensively, tallying five goals and two assists. Haroun El Karmoudi added a hat trick and an assist, and Tibor Van den Wildenbergh totalled two and four.
In net for Puerto Rico was Michael Riomao, who made 30 saves. Panda (Romain) Kluge got the start for Belgium but Branko Van den Wildenbergh replaced Kluge during the second quarter and saved 38 of 46 shots.
Puerto Rico advanced to the 25th place against Mexico on Saturday evening.
Belgium will finish the men’s box championship in 27th place.
Australia – Finland
In Friday’s second placement game, Finland took down Australia 13-8 in a battle of two veteran box teams.
Both teams finished in the top ten of the last box championship in 2019. Finland secured a top-ten finish in 2024 with the win while Australia will compete for 11th place.
Finland goalie Riku Jokela’s performance was the story of the game as he saved 41 of 49 shots, an 84 save percentage.
Offensively for Finland, Roope Jokela showed out with three goals and five assists, and Jarno Aaltonen added four goals.
On Australia’s side, Anson Carter recorded a hat-trick, and Jesse Whinnen added two goals and an assist.
Finland also won the penalty battle, committing five to Australia’s eight.
Finland’s final game in Utica will be against Germany on Saturday morning for ninth place. Australia will take on the Netherlands early Saturday afternoon for 11th place.
Netherlands – Germany
A dominant 5-0 second half led Germany to a 13-9 win over the Netherlands in a matchup between familiar European foes.
All five second half goals from Germany came from different players as Germany put together a well-rounded offensive effort to support its usual organized defense. Lasse Volquardsen led the way with three goals and four assists. David Beckmann added two goals and two assists.
Joshua Toguri and Richard Haan each put up hat-tricks for the Netherlands, and Toguri added two assists.
Both teams made goalie substitutions at halftime, and Keegan Lutsch-Melenychuk was a star for Germany in the second half, saving all 16 shots faced. Sam Haines of the Netherlands also put up a strong second half with 21 saves and five goals allowed.
With the win, Germany secured a top-ten finish for the second men’s box championship in a row, and has a chance to secure its best ever placement on Saturday against Finland in a battle for ninth place.
The Netherlands will take Australia for 11th place in what should be another tight contest.
Hong Kong, China – Greece
Hong Kong, China took care of Greece, 20-9, behind 10 unanswered second-half goals in placement play on Friday.
Jalen Chaster’s passing was on full display for Hong Kong, as he finished with three goals and eight assists. Corbyn Tao also made a strong contribution with five goals and two assists.
Demetre Crews did Greece’s heavy lifting with six goals and an assist.
Evan Constantopoulos saved 48 shots for Greece. Brandon Lui got the start for Hong Kong China and saved 23 of 29 shots. Pak Long Chan received the fourth quarter minutes and saved six of nine shots.
Hong Kong will continue in the bracket for 21st place on Saturday against Jamaica.
Greece will play for 23rd place on Saturday in the early afternoon against Switzerland.
Czechia – Japan
Czechia survived a game of runs in a 10-8 thriller against Japan on Friday.
The game featured Europe’s preeminent and historic box lacrosse specialist in Czechia against a Japan team making its first foray into box, and in the end, Czechia’s experience just won out. The teams have been two of the most compelling storylines in Utica and the game will be one of the more memorable contests from the 2024 championship that reflects the new landscape in the discipline.
With the win, Czechia is guaranteed its best finish in the event since 2011, when there was only eight teams and it took fourth place. Japan has already secured a top-eight finish with its trip to the quarterfinals.
Both defenses were dialed into the other team’s star attackers, but Japan had secured the narrowest of edges with a 7-6 lead heading into the fourth quarter. But three goals in a row from Czechia in seven minutes to start the final frame made the difference.
Japan cut it to one with five minutes to play but Stepan Friedl cut the comeback bid shot with a crucial goal with under 90 seconds to play.
Czechia’s 10 goals came from eight different players, which helped solve the strong Japanese defense.. Tomas Knotek and Pavel Srch were the only players to score multiple goals.
Three players netted at least twice for Japan: Hiroki Kanaya, Yuya Okumura, and Shinya Tateishi. Itsuki Morita added three assists.
Japan goalie Soya Tokumasu finished with 29 saves. Josef Slavík, who got the start for Czechia, saved 21 of 26 shots. Viktor Bláha, who played the second half, finished with 15 saves and three goals allowed.
Czechia will go for fifth place on Saturday against the winner of Israel vs. Ireland. Japan will take on the loser of that game for seventh place.
Poland – Chinese Taipei
Poland used a 4-0 first-quarter lead as a springboard to a 13-6 victory over Chinese Taipei on Friday.
Poland had four players score two or more goals, and Steven Sloma led the way with a hat-trick and two assists. Jan Mikolaj Smigiel tallied four assists.
Dennis Jack Burns led the scoring for Chinese Taipei with two goals.
Michal Gladki was a brick wall in net for Poland with an 82% save percentage and 27 saves. Zong-Yi Shen of Chinese Taipei saved 45 of 58 shots.
Poland’s power play defense was also key in the win with a 7-2 advantage on penalties for Chinese Taipei
Poland will face Scotland for 17th place on Sunday, while Chinese Taipei will take on Austria for 19th place on Saturday.
Hungary – Mexico
Hungary withdrew from the men’s box championship due to an insufficient number of healthy athletes.
As a result: Hungary forfeited the match against Mexico.
Mexico will advance to the 25th place match, scheduled for Saturday against Puerto Rico. Hungary will automatically be placed 28th, and the 27th place match will not be played.
Scotland – Austria
Scotland finished strong to oust Austria 14-11 to pick up its fourth win in Utica in placement play on Friday.
Scotland kept Austria at arm’s length throughout the entire game and when Austria cut it to 10-9 with under 19 minutes to play, Scotland scored three of the next four goals to lead 13-10 en-route to the win.
Three players finished with over five points for Scotland as Zac Milne stepped up with three goals and four assists. Thom Gilbrook had four goals and an assist while Jake Gilmour added three goals and two assists.
Josh Gamble made 34 saves for Scotland.
Josh Dawick, Gerhard Probst and Adrian Balasch combined for 13 points to lead Austria as usual.
Scotland will face Poland for 17th place on Sunday morning.
Austria will take on Chinese Taipei for 19th place on Saturday afternoon.
Jamaica – Switzerland
Jamaica exploded for a three-goal outburst in the final four minutes to knock off Switzerland 10-8 in placement play.
In a defensive battle that was 6-6 entering the fourth quarter, Switzerland grabbed two late leads at 7-6 and 8-7, with the latter coming with five minutes to play.
Jamaica reeled off the goal to tie from Damon Edwards with three minutes and 20 seconds to play and the go-ahead goal from Marcus Minichello just 17 seconds later. Just over a minute later, Edwards scored again to shock Switzerland in the final minutes.
Edwards finished with four goals and Minichello had three. Jacob Thompson made 24 saves for Jamaica including 10 in the fourth quarter.
Patrick Brunner and Sebastian Heri both recorded four points for Switzerland.
Jamaica now has two wins in a row and will look to make it three against Hong Kong, China in the 21st place game on Saturday in the afternoon.
Switzerland will take on Greece for 23rd place on Saturday.
Israel – Ireland
Israel rebounded from its quarterfinal defeat for an impressive win 15-8 win over Ireland in placement play to close out the Friday slate.
Israel entered the playoffs as the sixth seed and Ireland was the seventh seed, but Israel just came out firing from the jump with a 4-1 first quarter and a 9-3 first half scoreline.
From there, Israel’s defense took over and the fifth-place finisher from the 2019 box championship ensured it will have another crack at matching that result.
Five players recorded multiple goals for Israel in a balanced effort. Parker Pipher had three goals and an assist while Zach Pall notched two goals and two assists. Jackson Hainer also impressed with 40 saves on 48 saves.
Brian Gillis had four goals for Ireland.
Irsrael will face Czechia for fifth place on Saturday afternoon. Ireland will play Japan for seventh place on Saurday as well.
Semifinal Galleries: CAN-ENG | USA-HAU
Placement Galleries: PUR-BEL | AUS-FIN | NED-GER | HKG-GRE | POL-TPE | ISR-IRL
Canada – England Gallery
United States – Haudenosaunee Gallery
Puerto Rico – Belgium Gallery
Australia – Finland
Netherlands – Germany Gallery
Hong Kong, China – Greece Gallery
Poland – Chinese Taipei Gallery
Israel – Ireland Gallery
