Haudenosaunee advances to semifinals with 7-5 win over England behind five goals from Gregory Elijah-Brown

Haudenosaunee and England battled in a tight quarterfinal match-up at the 2022 World Lacrosse Men’s Under 21 World Championships. Photo by Decolonize Sports

LIMERICK, Ireland – The Haudenosaunee Nationals earned a hard fought victory 7-5 over England in the quarterfinals of the 2022 World Lacrosse Men’s U21 World Championships at the University of Limerick. Gregory Elijah-Brown had a monster game with five goals to lead the Haudenosaunee offense. Keelan Seneca added one goal and one assist. Aidan Fearn won 10 of 16 faceoffs and Jack VanValkenburgh finished with nine saves between the pipes, six coming in the fourth quarter to shut down a late charge from England. England was led by two goals and one assist from Daniel Hilditch and nine saves from goalie Samuel Rogerson. The game was much tighter than their previous matchup, which Haudenosaunee won 14-3 in the first game of pool play.

“It was a great game. The boys battled back. They got up on them a little bit,” said head coach Mark Burnam after the game. “England, hats off to them. They did step up their game and they played really well. They zoned up on defense for the most part. And then they went man for the second half. In the beginning it got us to pass the ball a little bit and you got to take care of the ball against the zone because most of your shots are going to come off backdoor cuts or outside shots.”

The game was scoreless for the first eight minutes before Gregory Elijah-Brown opened the scoring with back-to-back goals to put Haudenosaunee up 2-0. The first after Haudenosaunee worked the ball around before Anahalihs Doxtator went left behind the net and found Elijah-Brown open on the doorstep and he buried it low. The second as Keelan Seneca worked the right side to find Elijah-Brown in traffic who finished in front of the net.

Gregory Elijah-Brown had a monster game with five goals for Haudenosaunee in their 7-5 victory over England. Photo by Decolonize Sports

“I was just kind of playing my role within the team. That’s where I stay is in the middle,” said Elijah-Brown about his five goal performance. “My teammates treat me good and they give me the ball all of the time. I was just trying to find those gaps within the defense where I can make a difference. That’s where I had most of my success was in the middle. So I stayed there.”

England bounced back in the second quarter on a nice diving goal by Daniel Hilditch to cut the lead to 2-1. Hilditch then fed Edward Loveland who buried one low from deep on the left side to knot the score 2-2. Keelan Seneca got on the board from inside the zone on a dish from Koleton Marquis to retake the lead 3-2. Hilditch responded again with his second goal of the day as he sniped one from the deep right side on an assist from Joshua Simpson-Pink to tie the game again. But, Elijah-Brown got loose again to complete his hat trick on a nice feed from Seneca working behind the net and gave Haudenosaunee a 4-3 lead. Jake Piseno hit the post from the slot with five seconds to keep the score 4-3 headed to halftime.

Mason Homer scored his first goal of the tournament less than two minutes into the third quarter on a sling from the right side on a pass from Teharonhiorens McComber to extend the Haudenosaunee lead to 5-3. A Daniel Jones goal from Nathan Wilkinson brought England back to within one. Elijah-Brown struck again as he went low in traffic on a feed from Rowisonkies Bares. Elijah-Brown finished his onslaught on another goal in traffic from Amos Whitcomb to make it 7-4 Haudenosaunee. England responded on a deep shot from Hugo Peel to make the score 7-5 headed to the fourth.

Mason Homer scored his first goal of the tournament in Haudenosaunee’s 7-5 win over England. Photo by Decolonize Sports

Both teams went scoreless in the fourth quarter although the game did not end without some excitement. With less than a minute left in the game England asked for stick checks on Haudenosaunee’s Jake Piseno and Stone Jacobs, which were both successful, putting Haudenosaunee down two men in a six on four. Thirteen seconds later Dylan Snow was penalized for an illegal bodycheck putting Haudenosaunee down three men clinging to a two goal lead. The England threat was stalled by a save from Jack VanValkenburgh and a huge play from the hickory of Doug Powless as he stuck out his wooden stick to deflect the ball out of bounds and England never saw the ball again.

“At the end there, the excitement was obviously from that stick check they pulled,” added coach Burnam. “I think we were down 6 to 3 (men) on that. Dougie Powless sticks his stick out and makes a great one hander and the ball goes out of bounds.”

Doug Powless and Jack VanValkenburgh both made huge plays down the stretch to clinch Haudenosaunee’s 7-5 victory over England. Photo by Decolonize Sports

Up next for Haudenosaunee is the semifinal matchup with Team USA in the championship bracket on August 18 at 7 p.m. local time (2 p.m. EST). The game is a rematch from when USA beat Haudenosaunee 13-2 in pool play. Game schedule and live stats can be found here.

Follow Decolonize Sports on social media for more coverage of the Haudenosaunee Nationals and their journey towards a world championship at the 2022 World Lacrosse Under 21 Men’s World Championship.