Canada will be going for gold on home floor at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon at the IIJL World Junior Lacrosse Championship.
The Canadians down Scotland 24-11 on Friday night and will now face their North American rivals from the United States in the championship final. The gold medal game goes on Saturday at 8 p.m. local time (10 p.m. ET).
Meanwhile, Scotland will face Israel in the bronze medal game.
Early Lead For Canada
Canada got off to a quick start, jumping ahead 3-0 in only a one-minute span. Seth De La Ronde opened the scoring at 11:33 followed by Finn Halladay 34 seconds later. Max Pocherewny would make it a three-goal game at 10:33.
Grady Holmes got Scotland on the board shorthanded when he put one just inside the post to make it 3-1.
Canada rounded out the first quarter with a two-goal run. Matthew Boas made no mistake on the power play at 4:59 followed by Seth De La Ronde shorthanded with 1:00 on the clock as Canada led 5-1 at the first break.
Canada Extends Their Lead
Scotland opened the second-quarter scoring when Holmes buried a wide-open shot to make it 5-2.
Canada replied with a two-goal run. Pocherewny and Tyrell Gray put Canada ahead 7-2.
Zac Milne’s bouncer would find the back of the net at 9:42 and Milne struck again on transition shorthanded at 8:11 as Scotland narrowed the lead 7-4.
However, Canada’s lead was extended with two goals from Alexander De La Ronde and a marker from Joshua Goodman for a 10-4 Canada lead with less than 4:00 on the clock.
Three goals were scored in the last minute of play in the second. Scotland’s Nolan Eastwood scored with 40 seconds followed by Canada’s Joshua Weston 10 seconds later. Halladay rounded out the scoring with five seconds on the clock as Canada led 12-5 at the half.
Scotland Comes Out Firing In The Third
The Scots weren’t about to give up in the second half. Eastwood and Fletcher opened the scoring to get Scotland within five goals.
Goodman put Canada back up 13-7 before Eastwood scored on the power play for Scotland at 10:50.
Canada would then go on a six-goal run with three goals from William Angus and single markers from Alexander De La Ronde, Goodman and Weston.
Diving from behind the net, Holmes put Scotland back on the board with 32.7 seconds left in the third. However, Canada would take a 19-9 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Canada Punches Ticket To Gold Medal Game
Scotland got on the board when a misplayed ball in the Canadian crease found the back of the net. Eastwood was credited with the power play goal 1:41 into the fourth quarter.
On a five-on-three power play, Goodman scored at 10:36 as Canada led 20-10.
At 8:16 on a delayed penalty, the shot by Francis Greyson snuck through Scottish goaltender Eric LeBlanc to put Canada up by 11.
Jack Bamford made it a 10-goal game with a nifty swim move before putting it into the back of the net at 7:03.
Canada replied right back 21 seconds later off a goal from Halladay to start a three-goal run for Canada. Also scoring for Canada were Jack Dulong and Halladay with another as Canada won 24-11 to win the right to play for gold.
Top Scorers
Canada
Finn Halladay, 4g 4a
Joshua Goodman, 4g 2a
Joshua Weston, 2g 3a
William Angus 3g 2a
Alexander De La Ronde, 3g 2a
Scotland
Nolan Eastwood, 4g 3a
Jack Bamford, 1g 3a
Zac Milne, 2g 2a
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Shawn Slaght has been a sports reporter across the Canadian prairies for over 10 years and has experience covering everything from junior hockey to World Cup skiing to all levels of lacrosse. He is the Saskatchewan correspondent for All Lacrosse All The Time.
