Haudenosaunee falls 18-5 to Canada in Semifinals of 2026 World Lacrosse Women’s Championship; Will Play for Bronze Medal

TOKYO - The Haudenosaunee Nationals dropped a tough one to Canada 18-5 in their first ever semifinal appearance at the 2026 World Lacrosse Women’s Championship in front of 1,457 fans at Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium. Despite the scoring margin, Haudenosaunee battled but ultimately could not stall two big scoring runs for Canada, 8-1 in the first half and 8-0 in the second half. The National offense was led by two goals from Avery Doran, one goal and one assist from Sierra Cockerille, and one goal each from Lois Garlow and Paisley Cook. Paige Crandall finished with eight saves on the day.

Canada won the opening possession but Sofia Watts caused a turnover and pushed the ball the other way. Canada got the ball back and Kassidy Morris buried her own transition to give Canada the 1-0 lead a minute into the game. Haudenosaunee responded four minutes later as Sierra Cockerille worked to the middle and fired a sidearm snipe from the left side to tie the game at 1-1. But, Canada would embark on an 8-0 run from there. Nicole Perroni got it started as she took a swing pass and drove the lane to finish in front of the net with 9:14 remaining in the first. A Sierra Cockerille yellow card gave Canada the 2-minute woman advantage and Aurora Cordingley scored at 6:45 off an assist from Erica Evans. Cordingley struck again as she was found inside by Megan Kinna and buried her second goal of the game in front of the net for the 4-1 lead with 5:20 left to play. Hanna Bodner then found Annabel Child off the pick-and-roll and Child buried one low from the top with just over four minutes to go in the first quarter. Kassidy Morris scored her second goal of the game driving down the lane to extend the Canada lead to 6-1 with 2:48 to play. Cordingley secured the hat trick with 4-seconds remaining to give Canada the 7-1 lead headed to the second quarter. 

Canada continued their roll to start the second as Erica Evans drove to the right side and finished 30-seconds in and Kassidy Morris followed by scoring in transition at 11:37 to extend the lead to 9-1. But, the Haudenosaunee did not quit as they battled back to close the gap. Paisley Cook scored on a free position shot she earned after being knocked to the ground to cut the lead to 9-2 with 9:06 to play. Canada answered five minutes later on another Kassidy Morris goal from Erica Evans. Avery Doran answered for Haudenosaunee on a free position snipe to cut the lead to 10-3 with 1:16 remaining in the first half.

The Haudenosaunee struck again to start the third as Lois Garlow took a pass from Avery Doran working behind the net and Garlow buried her lone goal of the game 90-seconds into the second half. The scoring stalled for the next eight minutes until Doran earned another free position shot and ripped a goal off the pipe to cut the lead to 10-5 with just over minutes left in the third quarter. Canada would regain control from there as Madalyn Baxter scored driving the middle with just under four minutes to play. Paisley Cook earned a yellow card for swiping with 90-seconds to go and Erica Evans scored on a free position shot with the woman advantage to extend the lead to 12-5 with 28-seconds to play. The third quarter ended as lightning struck in the distance sending the teams to the locker room and the fans under cover for an indefinite weather delay. 

After 1-hour and 18-minutes, play resumed with the start of the fourth quarter and Canada cruised to end the game on a 6-0 run. Aurora Cordingley scored 40-seconds into the fourth and Kassidy Morris followed on a free position to make it 14-5 with 12:23 left in the game. Hanna Bodner added her lone goal at 8:54 and Kassidy Morris scored her sixth goal of the game on a free position to extend the Canada advantage to 16-5 with 6:52 left in the game. Alissa DiGiacinto joined the scoring column with just under 6-minutes remaining in the game and Raegan Wilson closed the game out with her lone goal at 3:07 of the fourth quarter to make the final score 18-5 for Canada. 

The loss moves the Haudenosaunee to the Bronze Medal Game, where they will face Israel. Neither team has ever won a medal at the World Lacrosse Women’s Championship. Haudenosaunee has secured their best finish ever. 

Haudenosaunee vs. Canada Full Box Score HERE

Up Next: Bronze Medal Game

Haudenosaunee vs. Israel

Sunday, August 2

4 p.m. Local Time/ 3 a.m. EST

Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium