Haudenosaunee Rolls to 14-3 Victory Over England in Opening Round of U21 World Championships
The Haudenosaunee Nationals Men’s Under 21 team honor the Haudenosaunee National Anthem before their game versus England. Photo by Decolonize Sports
LIMERICK, Ireland - The Haudenosaunee Nationals opened pool play with a dominating 14-3 (box score) victory over England today in their journey towards the world title at the 2022 World Lacrosse Men’s Under-21 World Championships at the University of Limerick. Attackman Anahalihs Doxtator earned the game ball for Haudenosaunee as he led the offense with four goals and one assist. Gregory Elijah-Brown added three goals and an assist, and Rowisonkies Barnes and David Anderson each added two goals and an assist to lead the scoring for Haudenosaunee. Goalie Jack VanValkenburgh backstopped a stingy Haudenosaunee defense with 13 saves on the day for an 81-percent save percentage.
“Some of us, it was our first world games. It’s been a long time coming. We were kind of nervous coming into the game,” commented Doxtator about the Nationals performance. “We all worked hard out there – chemistry was good. Those four goals wouldn’t be possible without all of the teammates out here. It was good teamwork overall today.”
Attackman Anahalihs Doxtator takes a rest during his four goal game versus England. Photo by Decolonize Sports
Haudenosaunee opened the scoring just 10 seconds into the game as Clay Scanlan found Doxtator alone on the backside of the net to give the Nationals a 1-0 lead. England would respond with back-to-back goals from Drew Bickerton and Oliver Allsop to build a 2-1 lead just under six minutes into the contest. Haudenosaunee found another gear and countered with a 4-0 run on Doxtator’s second goal of the game and a beautiful backhand from Gregory Elijah-Brown. Rowisonkies Barnes went back-to-back for his two goals of the game, the first a diving shot on a feed from Doxtator and the second on Trey Deere’s lone assist of the day. After the somewhat slow start, Haudenosaunee took a 5-2 lead into the second quarter.
“England was running a good open offense early. We adjusted pretty quick,” goalie Jack VanValkenburgh told Decolonize Sports about his teams’ start. “I was definitely very nervous going into our first game. It showed the first few minutes but then once I got settled in I was playing with a clear mind and it was just flow free out there. It felt good.”
Goalie Jack VanValkenburgh finished the day with 13 saves in Haudenosaunee’s 14-3 win over England. Photo by Decolonize Sports
The Nationals continued their onslaught with four straight goals to open the second quarter. Doxtator added to his day with back-to-back goals in the first three minutes on feeds from David Anderson and Marquis Koleton, respectively. David Anderson added his name to the scoring column on an assist from Barnes to make it 8-2. Anderson also went back-to-back as he streaked open to the backside of the goal and found the back of the net on a gorgeous backhand behind his head. England responded on a goal by Daniel Hilditch to make it 9-3 heading into halftime.
The Haudenosaunee defense put up a shutout in the second half as the Nationals outscored England 5-0 the rest of the game. Gregory Elijah-Brown added his second goal of the game just 1:25 into the third quarter as Mason Homer found Elijah-Brown wide open in the slot to extend the lead to 10-3. A minute later, Stone Jacobs picked up a ground ball in the defense zone and carried the ball coast to coast to finish with the long pole for his lone goal of the game. Efrain Barreto, Jr. added his goal unassisted to close out the third quarter with a 12-3 lead.
Stone Jacobs carries the ball from coast-to-coast on his way to scoring in Haudenosaunee’s 14-3 win over England. Photo by Decolonize Sports
The game slowed a bit in the fourth quarter. Koleton Marquis added a goal with under six minutes left in the game to make it 13-3 Haudenosaunee. Gregory Elijah-Brown capped off his hat trick with under a minute left in the game to make the final score 14-3.
Overall, head coach Mark Burnam was pleased with the effort of his young team. For many players, this is the first time they have represented their tribal nations in world championship competition.
“Good start. Boys played well. It was pretty much what we expected. We just have to work on a few things. Overall, great job I thought,” coach Burnam said after the game. He added, “We’re just getting chemistry. First game jitters. We got a young team. We got a bunch of guys that get out there and maybe never been at this level before. I felt they stepped it up and some guys really showed us what they can do.”
With the win Haudenosaunee moves to 1-0 in pool play. Up next for Haudenosaunee is Team USA on Saturday, August 13 at 7pm IST (2pm EST). They then play Team Australia on Sunday, August 14 and Team Canada on Monday, August 15 to round out their Pool A competition. Seeding for the championship bracket will be determined by pool play results. Championship bracket play begins on Tuesday, August 16. 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.
