2024 World Junior Lacrosse Championship Gold Medal Game Recap

A balanced roster all over the floor proved to be too much for anyone to handle as Canada rolled to the gold medal at the 2024 IIJL World Junior Lacrosse Championship. Canada surrendered the first goal in the championship game then responded by putting up 7 goals from seven different players and never looked back en route to an 18-9 win over the Scottish Thistles. 

Gold Medal Game Recap

CANADA 18 - SCOTTISH THISTLES 9

Smith (5 Goals, 2 Assists) and Wallace (4 Goals, 3 Assists) both put up 7 Points to lead Canada in the final. That gave Smith the tournament scoring title with 19 Goals and 10 Assists for 29 Points in 5 Games. The pair played Mr. Inside and Mr. Outside: Smith picked corners with long-range bombs while Wallace was effective down on the crease and in the slot. 

Canada had lost to the United States in last year's final, the first time that the USA had won the tournament. The Canadian roster gathered for the first time a couple of days before the tournament but by the end looked like they had been playing together for years, putting forth a team effort from one end of the floor to the other. 

Goaltenders Noah Dibattista and Ryan Horbay alternated games throughout the tournament, then split the final with Dibattista playing the first half and Horbay the second. 

All but two runners on the team wound up scoring goals in the tournament, with seven having 8 or more, and five defenders scored multiple goals. The defensive unit presented a cohesive front, allowing the team to give up just 25 goals in the tournament, almost half as many as the next best defensive team, the United States allowed 48 Goals. 

The 9-goal margin in the gold medal match was the smallest Canada had. 

All-World Team

FORWARD: Kaelen Smith (Canada)
FORWARD: Liam Elliott (Canada)
TRANSITION: Orlando Kernaghan (Australia)
DEFENDER: Elliot Rutherford (United States)
DEFENDER: Jaxon Weatherby (Canada)
GOALTENDER: Jarrot Jawor (Scotland)