Puerto Rico battled Australia in its first game of the 2024 World Box Lacrosse Championships schedule today. But it wasn’t just the first game of this year’s championships for Puerto Rico. This was the first game at any World Box Lacrosse Championships for the small Caribbean island.
The Puerto Ricans gave the Australians a good match. Puerto Rico was up three halfway through the second quarter. The handful of Puerto Rican fans in attendance yelled and banged on the plexiglass after each goal.
However, Australia took control just before halftime, scoring nine straight goals to take a lead it’d never relinquish. The final score was 17-12.
“We came out swinging and gave a really good effort in the first half,” Puerto Rico head coach Kyle Kallay said. “Credit to them. They settled in and adjusted, really took over the game structure-wise.”
Lacrosse has taken off dramatically on the island in past years. After joining World Lacrosse in 2016, the men’s team won the 2023 Pan-American Lacrosse Association Sixes Cup. Kallay said that it’s a credit to the work of the Puerto Rico Lacrosse organization.
“There’s a lot of people that have invested in Puerto Rico lacrosse, especially field lacrosse.” Kallay said. “In order for our organization to grow, it’s imperative that we expand into sixes and into box.”
While most of the team is based in the United States, their decision to embrace and celebrate their roots is important and special.
“It’s amazing,” he said. “Anytime that anyone has the opportunity to represent their heritage is a tremendous honor.”
Despite the loss and becoming newcomers to this event, Kallay believes this is a great sign for the future of the sport on the island.
“We’re really trying to grow the grassroots level of Puerto Rico lacrosse, and this is going to continue to help do that,” he said. “This was another step forward for the organization.”
For the match, Steven Ramirez led Puerto Rico with a hat trick, and Justin Albarran picked up a pair of assists. Goalkeeper Michael Riomao saved 40 of 57 Australian shots.
Puerto Rico returns to action tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. against Hungary.
