Pool play concluded after day six at the 2023 World Lacrosse Men’s Championship, with the 14-team playoff field determined after a dramatic slate of action.
Two spots were up for grabs between five teams – Wales opened the day with a quadruple overtime win over France to put themselves in position for a spot, only to be overtaken by Hong Kong, China, which needed to win by six goals against Mexico and ultimately prevailed 14-7.
The Netherlands clinched the other available playoff spot in a de-facto play-in game against Latvia, winning 4-1 with a strong defensive effort.
Elsewhere, pool winners jostled for seedings to set up an exciting first round of the playoffs set for tomorrow, with four games at San Diego State University. The United States and the Canada have a bye into the quarterfinals on Wednesday as the top two overall seeds.
The first-round schedule can be found below:
England (5) vs. Puerto Rico (12) – SDSU Sports Deck, 1 p.m.
Japan (6) vs. Germany (11) – SDSU Rady Field, 1 p.m.
Australia (4) vs. Netherlands (13) – SDSU Sports Deck, 4 p.m.
Italy (7) vs. Jamaica (10) – SDSU Rady Field, 4 p.m.
Haudenosaunee (3) vs. Hong Kong, China (14) – SDSU Sports Deck, 7 p.m.
Israel (8) vs. Ireland (9) – SDSU Rady Field, 7 p.m.
The full schedule of action including placement games can be found here.
A full recap of the day can be found below.
Philippines notched its second consecutive win in Pool C against Sweden, prevailing 9-3.
Chase LaDrido, Neil Macaladad and Nicholas Mitchell each scored two goals. The Philippines defense held Sweden to just 13 shots and seven on goal in the game.
Poland improved to 2-2 in Pool D with a 9-4 win over Switzerland.
Jan Śmigiel scored four goals and Christopher Crapanzano added three. Gregory Marzec went 10-14 on face-offs and goalkeeper Christian Dzwileski made seven saves on 15 shots on goal.
Canada played in the first and last game of pool play and continued its rebound with a third straight win after the opening game, an 11-4 defeat of England.
Four players had multiple goals for Canada, led by Josh Byrne who tallied three goals and two assists. Justin Inacio was an impressive 11 for 13 on face-offs.
The Haudenosaunee held off a strong effort from Australia in a 10-6 win to clinch the third seed in the playoffs after a 2-2 campaign in Pool A.
Eli McLaughlin and David Jackson recorded hat tricks for the Haudenosaunee and Randy and Austin Staats both recorded two assists.
Peru earned its first win in San Diego, a resounding 17-5 defeat of Korea that allowed Peru to finish with a positive goal differential overall in pool play.
JP Henry provided the fireworks for Peru’s offense yet against with five goals and two assists, bringing his goals total to 13, tied for the fourth most among players in San Diego.
Denmark recorded its first win at the championship with a 9-2 victory over Uganda.
Lukas Roscoe added three goals and an assist while goalkeeper James Robertson made six saves on eight shots on goal.
Ugandan goalkeeper Andrew Asiimwe made eight saves.
Needing a six-goal win against a strong Mexico team to make the playoffs, Hong Kong, China delivered a 14-7 win to claim the final spot, scoring the decisive goal with just over two minutes to play.
Logan Ip delivered a clutch performance for Hong Kong with six goals and an assist. Dash Tsai added three goals and an assists while Liam Ferris and Wesley Wong added two goals each.
Goalkeeper Marco Fung made five saves.
The Netherlands faced Latvia in a win-and-in scenario for a playoff spot, and ground out an extremely physical 4-1 victory with a stifling defensive performance.
Four players scored one goal each, and the goalkeeping duo of Thomas Haitsma and Urney Albertsz combined to make eight saves on nine shots on goal.
Ryan Richters made eight saves for Latvia.
Israel finished its pool play campaign undefeated as well, with a 14-4 win over the Czech Republic to secure the eighth seed in the playoffs.
Nathaniel Solomon was the finisher once again for Israel’s offense with five goals and an assist. Matthew Balter added four points and Robert Schain chipped in a goal and five assists.
Wales outlasted France in a quadruple-overtime thriller, 7-6, to claim the second spot in Pool B.
Because of Hong Kong, China’s seven-goal win, Wales finished as the fifth-best second place finisher, and missed the playoffs by a spot.
Dylan Braddock scored the game-winning goal. Both goalkeepers were outstanding in the game with Joseph Varela making eight saves for France and Casey Hughes making 11 saves for Wales.
The two teams traded goals in the dramatic final minute of regulation as well.
Italy finished its 4-0 sweep of Pool E with a resounding 19-4 win over Austria to claim the seventh seed in the playoffs.
Christian Cuccinello exploded for six goals and two assists.
Jamaica also completed its undefeated run through Pool D, holding off New Zealand in a 10-6 win.
AJ Knox, Josh McLaughlin and Marcus Minichello each scored two goals for Jamaica which limited New Zealand to 12 shots on goal.
William Clarkson was 10-17 on face-offs for New Zealand.
