Update: July 26
The gold medal match is set between Ireland and England at the Men’s U20 European Championship in Wroclaw, Poland for Saturday at 5 p.m. local time.
Ireland won its semifinal against Sweden, 11-3 after starting the game on a 9-0 run. Christopher Burnetta keyed the win with four goals and three assists, including a hat trick in the first eight minutes of the game, and a hat trick of assists to Sean Horkan in the opening run.
England pulled away from Germany, 16-6 in the second semifinal, behind an impressive 11-0 run to start the second half. George Shonfeld contributed seven goals.
Sweden and Germany will play for the bronze medal on Saturday at 2 p.m. local time. The final standings are as follows:
- England/Ireland
- England/Ireland
- Germany/Sweden
- Germany/Sweden
- Czech Republic/Netherlands
- Czech Republic/Netherlands
- Poland
- Israel
- Latvia/Italy
- Latvia/Italy
- Denmark
- Switzerland
- Belgium
Update: July 24
The semifinals are set at the Men’s U20 European Championship in Wroclaw after the first round of playoff action on Wednesday.
Ireland, Germany, England and Sweden advanced out of their four quarterfinal matchups. Ireland will take on Sweden in the first semifinal on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. local time, while Germany will face England in the second semifinal at 7 p.m.
Ireland coasted to a 10-3 win over the Netherlands, behind two goals each from Darcy Rybinski, John Staunton and Daniel Ludington. Euan McKeever and Gavin Conlan combined for 10 saves.
Germany’s defense dominated in a 7-2 win over Israel with an impressive showing from Tim Weiss with 11 saves on 13 shots on goal. Oliver Spaeh contributed two goals and an assist.
England coasted to a 14-7 win over the Czech Republic behind five points apiece from George Shonfeld and Hugo Peel.
Sweden edged Poland, 10-9, in a back and forth thriller. Poland led 5-1 and Sweden responded with eight consecutive goals across 30 minutes of play before withstanding a late 4-1 surge from Poland that cut the deficit to one with just over a minute to play. Mack Barry was the star of the day with six goals for Sweden, including the last four in a row for his team.
The European Lacrosse Federation Men’s U20 Championship starts today in Wroclaw, Portugal, running through July 27. The event features 13 teams split into three groups playing a total of 45 games.
Group A features Belgium, Denmark, England, Netherlands and Sweden. Germany, Ireland, Latvia and Switzerland are in Group B while Czech Republic, Israel, Italy and Poland are in Group C.
Eight teams advance to the playoffs after group play: the top two teams in Group A and the top three teams in Groups B and C.
The quarterfinals are set for Wednesday, July 24, with the semifinals on Thursday and the medal round on Saturday, July 27.
Live results throughout the tournament can be found here. Matches will be streamed on YouTube here.
The inaugural Men’s U20 European Championship was held in 2019 in Prague, with eight teams. England claimed the gold medal narrowly over Germany, 9-8, in the championship game. The host Czech Republic finished in third over Ireland.
Of the 13 teams competing in Wroclaw, nine competed at the 2022 World Lacrosse Men’s U21 Championship in Limerick, Ireland. England finished the highest of any European team at the tournament, in fifth place, while Ireland claimed seventh place on home soil.
