Haudenosaunee falls to Team USA 13-2 in second game of pool play at U21 World Championships

Haudenosaunee’s Clay Scanlan carries the ball against USA defender Ryan Schriber. Photo by Decolonize Sports

LIMERICK, Ireland - The Haudenosaunee Nationals fell 13-2 to defending world champion Team USA in their second game of pool play at the 2022 World Lacrosse Men’s Under 21 World Championships. Although stymied for much of the game, the Haudenosaunee offense battled hard for goals from Trey Deere and Anahalis Doxtator. Goalie Jack VanValkenburgh posted another outstanding performance with 10 saves to keep things close in the first half before Team USA widened the gap in the second half.

Goalie Jack VanValkenburgh makes one of his 10 saves in another outstanding performance for Haudenosaunee. Photo by Decolonize Sports

Team USA was led by Brennan O’Neill’s 2 goals and 2 assists, and got 2 goals each from Graham Bundy, Jr., Jake Caputo, Christopher Kirst, and Shane Knobloch. Goalie Liam Entenmann finished with 5 saves behind the stingy USA defense.  

“We see a lot of things that we have to work on. The guys got a little jump on them in the beginning. But, I thought we played well the first quarter,” said Haudenosaunee head coach Mark Burnam after the game. “Our goalie played out of his mind today. Jack, hats off to him. They controlled the face offs which you know if they have the ball they’re able to score. We played defense a ton today. It wore on us later on in the game.”

Team USA’s Alec Stathakis continued his tournament dominance in face-offs with 11 wins in the circle. This allowed Team USA to get off to a quick start with goals from Shane Knobloch and Brendan Grimes two minutes into the game. Jake Caputo made it 3-0 USA on an assist by Patrick Hackler.

Christopher Kirst’s snipe from the left side made it 4-0 USA a minute and a half into the second quarter. Brennan O’Neill followed up with his first of the game on a gorgeous behind the head backhand from the left side to make it 5-0 USA. Although they did not develop many scoring chances, Haudenosaunee hung tough in the first half. Keelan Seneca had a shot hit the post and Gregory Elijah-Brown was found open in traffic in the front of the net only to be met by a great save from Entenmann. Finally, Trey Deere broke through for the Haudenosaunee offense with 11.2 seconds remaining in the first half. The Nationals were holding for the last shot as Deere held the ball in the back corner before streaking behind the net and wrapping a goal from the left side to make it 5-1 going into halftime.

 “To score a goal against Team USA means a lot. And just trying to get the boys to start rolling,” explained Deere about his goal. “We were going for a last shot opportunity so I was just chilling in the corner. Luckily, Koleton (Marquis) came and set me a nice little pick and I came around and got my hands free. Red told us the goalie drops so I tried to put it around him and it ended up going five hole.”

Trey Deere scores late in the first half against Team USA. Photo by Decolonize Sports

Team USA outscored Haudenosaunee 6-0 in the third quarter started by another goal from O’Neill twenty seconds into the quarter. Knobloch scored his second goal on a beautiful flying shot from the right side of the crease. Graham Bundy, Jr. got on the board on a deep shot in front of the net and Alexander Slusher joined the scoring when he was found wide open on the backside of the net. A Haudenosaunee turnover led to Patrick Hurler’s first goal of the game on the right side and Kirst buried his second goal from the right side to make it 11-1 heading to the final frame.

Graham Bundy, Jr. added his second goal to make it 12-1 USA before Anahalihs Doxtator countered for Haudenosaunee as he was found alone in front of the net with the Nationals a man up and went low on USA goalie Jared Paquette. After stalling for several minutes Jake Caputo capped the scoring for Team USA with under thirty seconds left in the game to make the final score 13-2.

Anahalihs Doxtator scores the second goal of the game for Haudenosaunee. Photo by Decolonize Sports

Despite the final outcome, Haudenosaunee learned a lot from their experience and is looking forward for their next opportunity.

“It was a little bit of a rough one for the boys. We came out hard but they got the better of us today,” Trey Deere said about the game. “We dropped this one but we’re going to put our next foot forward and we got (Team Australia) tomorrow.”

“Big, important game. You forget about what just happened. You remember and you learn from the stuff that you know you have to do. And you go on and you play the next game and try to get a W,” added head coach Mark Burnam. “Obviously, Australia is fighting for the same thing we are. That game tomorrow will put us in at least contention to play in the medal rounds.”

Haudenosaunee during the pregame anthems. Photo by Decolonize Sports

With the loss Haudenosaunee moves to 1-1 in pool play. Up next for Haudenosaunee is Team Australia on Sunday, August 14 at 4 p.m. Irish Standard Time (11 a.m. Eastern Standard Time) and can be seen streaming on ESPN+. 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.