Canada rules box lacrosse

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This article was published 14/08/2022 (1144 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

CANADA proved why it rules box lacrosse with the crown of world supremacy at stake in their own backyard.

Team Canada triumphed over Haudenosaunee — who represented the Iroquois nation south of the border — 16-9 to win gold at the World Junior Lacrosse Championship at Canada Life Centre on Sunday.

The win marked Canada’s fourth-straight gold medal in the international tournament (no winner in 2020, Canada East won the reduced tournament in 2021).

Jackson Klewchuk, a Winnipeg native and one of two Manitobans on Team Canada, potted a pair of goals and added an assist on a night he played on his home turf.

The title bout featured the two highest scoring teams in the tournament (Canada 23.5 goals per game, Haudenosaunee 24 goals per game) while both vied to close their week with perfect records.

Keaton Zavitz of St. Catharines, Ont., opened the scoring for Canada with the first of his hat trick of goals.

Haudenosaunee thumped back with a pair of their own goals, but that would be the last time they held a lead.

After a deadlocked first quarter, Canada began separating themselves in the second frame, thanks to a pair of goals from leading goal-scorer Silas Richmond of Delta, B.C., to enter the break with a three-goal advantage.

The third quarter would ultimately be the deciding quarter of the game, as the hosts outscored Haudenosaunee 6-2 in the frame. Canadian captain, Tyler Davis, notched a goal and two assists en route to a team-high two goals and nine points in the game.

While there was no clock for possession time available, at times it looked like target practice for the relentless Canadian squad, who also imposed their physicality on the Haudenosaunee throughout the game.

Canada was notably branded by a brotherhood that took a matter of days to forge.

Head coach Gavin Prout told the Free Press last week he’s “never really been a part of something like this.”

“Every single (championship) team I’ve been a part of, it has the same feeling that this particular team does. We have a saying of ‘E.L.E’ — everyone loves everyone — and that seems to be the case with this team,” he said.

Kale Grehan, the team’s other Manitoban, noted early in the tournament that it was a chance for the Prairie products to grow Manitoba’s mark on Canada’s lacrosse map.

“It’s just showing that Manitoba players can play at the same level as Ontario,” the Winnipeg native told the Free Press last week. “Because lacrosse is very small in Manitoba… just showing that even though we came from a smaller lacrosse province we can play at a high level on the international stage.”

Grehan and Klewchuk combined for seven goals and six assists in the tournament.

jfreysam@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jfreysam