Nine teams opened their campaigns at the 2025 European Men’s Lacrosse Championship with a win on Thursday in Wroclaw, Poland in the first full day of action: Ireland, Finland, France, Latvia, Norway, Spain, Slovakia, Switzerland and Wales.
Switzerland, France, Latvia and Wales all earned wins over teams that appeared in the last edition of the World Lacrosse Men’s Championship in 2023, with Switzerland and Latvia both besting teams that had finished above them in 2023 in Scotland and the Netherlands.
Slovakia scored a dramatic winner in the final seconds to complete a comeback against Greece and Norway held on the final minutes to narrowly edge Portgual.
Recaps of each game can be found below:
SCO-SUI | FRA-DEN | ESP-UKR | SVK-GRE | FIN-BGR | IRL-CRO | NED-LAT | NOR-POR | WAL-SWE
England, Israel, Italy and Germany will make their debuts tomorrow, and all four teams finished in the top 12 of the 2023 Men’s Championship.
The top seven teams in the tournament will qualify for the 2027 World Lacrosse Men’s Championship in Japan.
The top four teams in pool play will advance directly to the quarterfinals while the fifth through 12th best teams will enter the play-in round for the final four spots in the quarterfinals.
Statistics throughout the championship are available at worldlacrosse.sport/emlc25 and live streaming is free at WL TV and LAX TV.
Switzerland opened the day with a headline-grabbing 8-6 win over Scotland to temporarily move to the top of Pool E. Switzerland finished 26th at the last Men’s Championship while Scotland was in 18th.
In a defensive affair, Switzerland goalkeeper Andre Bremgartner was a key difference-maker, notching 12 saves on 18 shots on goal.
Scotland trailed by one with 20 minutes to go, but Switzerland regained breathing room to start the fourth quarter and kept Scotland at bay.
Aidan Niklaus and Casey Realini led the way with two goals each for the Swiss. Thomas Gilbrook had two goals for Scotland.
France collected a comprehensive 14-4 win over Denmark in another matchup between two teams in the field in San Diego.
James Barlow took over late with a hat trick in the last ten minutes to finish with five goals, and Justin Rosenberg and Lucas Goeller keyed a strong showing with three points apiece.
David Gudman made 12 saves for Denmark in defeat.
Spain handled Ukraine 15-6 to begin its campaign in Wroclaw with a dominant first half spurred by a 5-0 run in the opening 12 minutes.
Jon Matthew Bota racked up three goals and two assists while Fernando Martinez Sierra and Matthew Napolitano each posted hat tricks.
Michael Melnychenko had four points for Ukraine.
Slovkia toppled Greece with a dramatic comeback to win 8-7 in one of the games of the day on Thursday.
Slovakia trailed 7-5 entering the fourth quarter after the two teams traded goals 10 seconds apart in the final 30 seconds of the third.
But Slovakia pulled off a perfect final frame, scoring nine seconds in the fourth to get within one, tying the game with just under five minutes to go, and seizing the lead in the final 10 seconds on a winner from Ivan Cernak.
Cernak finished with a goal and an assist.
Both goalkeepers finished with a save percentage over 60% and traded saves in a dramatic fourth quarter. Anthony John Babony made 13 saves, including four in the fourth for Slovakia while Anthony Katagas made 11 saves and five himself in the final frame.
Slovakia and France each have a win in Pool D with Italy yet to play.
Finland shut out Bulgaria 19-0 to coast to a temporary lead atop Pool A.
Anssi Kaisalmi amassed eight points on five goals and three assists while Emmett Edwards and Alex Kiviniemi totaled five points each.
Ireland kickstarted its campaign in Pool C with a 13-2 win over Croatia.
Conor Foley’s fingerprints were all over the win with three goals and five assists while Patrick Corbett added three points.
Trgo Tomas made 21 saves in defeat for Croatia.
Ireland is tied for the lead atop the four-team Pool C.
Latvia shocked the Netherlands 14-4 in an attention-grabbing result. Latvia finished 20th at the 2023 Men’s Championship while the Netherlands finished 14th.
Ryan Richters made 10 saves and the Latvia attacking cast enjoyed a balanced showing, with Austin Matthew Blumbergs, Dzeimss Edwards Moens and Andris Tomas Doktors all notching four points.
Urney Russel Lambertus Albertsz made seven saves for the Netherlands.
Latvia has a win as well as Finland in Pool A with England yet to play.
Norway withstood a late four goal flurry from Portugal to hang on for a 9-8 win.
Norway started off with a 6-0 lead in 17 minutes, but Portugal nearly threaded the needle the rest of the way to comeback, scoring four goals in the final 10 minutes to get within one.
Oscar Carl Vik’s goal with just under 12 minutes to go proved decisive for the Norwegians. Grunde Otnes sparked the attack with four points and Andrew Scott Buck added three.
Michael Hawkins tallied five points for Portgual, including two in the fourth quarter.
Norway and Switzerland each have a win in Pool E with Israel yet to play.
Wales capped the day with a 16-4 victory over Sweden in a matchup between two teams with numerous Men’s Championship appearances. Wales finished 17th in 2023 while Sweden placed 23rd.
Josh Simpson Pink erupted for five goals and Joe Harris added five points as well. Wales’ defense allowed Sweden to just 10 shots total.
Wales and Ireland are tied atop the four-team Pool C with a win each.
