Puerto Rico warded off England, 15-11, in a turbocharged battle in the fifth place bracket on Friday night at the 2025 World Lacrosse Men’s U20 Championship in Korea.
England kept pace with Puerto Rico until early in the second quarter, when Puerto Rico pushed out to a three goal lead by the end of the frame. England gave a dogged pursuit the rest of the way, cutting a six-goal deficit at the start of the fourth to two with three minutes to play.
But the furious comeback was cut short when Puerto Rico won the next possession and defiantly restored a three-goal lead thanks to Nicolas Bucello.
Puerto Rico outshot England 48-29 but England’s finishing kept it in the game with a 38% scoring rate compared to just 31% for Puerto Rico. Both goalies performed admirably but Puerto Rico’s face-off advantage at a 75% win rate made a difference in building the early lead and securing the ball down the stretch.
Puerto Rico sets up a blockbuster fifth place game with Japan as the finale to Saturday’s action at 7 p.m. Puerto Rico took eighth in its debut in 2022 and has now guaranteed an improved final ranking with a chance to knock off the defending fifth place finisher. Saturday’s game will be deserving coda to the campaigns of the two most impressive teams outside of Pool A on Jeju Island.
England will draw Jamaica for a grudge match in seventh place on Saturday at 4 p.m., having narrowly edged Jamaica in the two teams’ opener by three goals.
The Nick Testa-Wilfredo Crispin combo on face-offs was lethal again for Puerto Rico, winning 22 of 29 total. Connor Dobson and Jourdain Algarin also made 11 saves as a duo.
Nick Testa was kept relatively in check with three assists by a dialed in English defense, but Lorenzo Varona and Joseph Rafferty rose to the challenge with five goals for Varona and seven points on six goals and an assist for Rafferty.
Archie Gold tallied four points for England, with Drew Wilkinson and Ben Jackson chipping in three points apiece. Goalkeepers Jackson Davies and Joachim Ruby totaled 13 saves together.
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